Prompting some reflection over here, do you think it’s alright to hit people? Of course not. But apparently in high-intensity sports, it is. It showed when, not even 3 minutes into the game, Sheldon locked Caitlin Clark, and then Olivia Nelson-Ododa shoved her. It forced a quick second foul on the latter. That moment onwards, the theme for the matchup was set: All aggressive, all 40 minutes long.

After reviewing the first incident at length, officials assessed technical fouls for unsportsmanlike conduct to Clark, Charles, and Mabrey. While Sheldon received a Flagrant-1 foul. And the crowd buzzed with surprise when Mabrey and Sheldon remained in the game despite these infractions. This controversial decision was what instigated Fever guard Sophie Cunningham to take justice into her own hands during the final minute of play with 46.1 seconds remaining, where she retaliated by grabbing Sheldon’s hair as the two exchanged heated words.

This altercation resulted in three ejections: Sheldon, Lindsay Allen, and the Fever’s Cunningham. However, right before they ejected Sophie Cunningham for the Flagrant-2 foul, CC interestingly proved that the play-by-play analyst for the matchup, Debbie Antonelli’s thoughts were right. Her take is that aggressiveness is “The gameplan when Caitlin Clark is on the floor.” Rightfully so, because at the 3:55 mark, in the 4th quarter, Caitlin Clark made a 28-foot three-pointer.

And what followed was the real sight. ESPN’s Malika Andrews broke it down for us. She shared a close footage of CC yelling things with great energy right after making the basket. Andrews light-heartedly said, “I’m not a professional lip reader, but we can all say that it wasn’t totally fit for television.” That’s what passion does to you: punches and kicks barely hurt, and every win feels bigger. This one must have especially felt big because the Sun is one of the most physical, veteran-heavy defensive teams in the league.

So, winning against them, after losing twice this season, called for a Clark-esque passionate celebration. After all, Indiana shot 42.3% from three and a stellar 93.8% from the line. Caitlin Clark gave a statement performance by dropping 20 points, shooting 6-of-12 from the field, and nailing 4-of-6 from deep. Whereas Natasha Howard had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, Kelsey Mitchell led the team with 17 points on 8-of-18 shooting. And not just the players, the coaches got into the action as well.

Fever v/s Sun: Coach Edition

The Indiana Fever secured their historic first Commissioner’s Cup Finals berth with an 88-71 victory over Connecticut. However, the postgame spotlight wasn’t on their achievement. Rather, it was the ugly final minute that left both teams fuming. Sun coach Rachid Meziane erupted over Sophie Cunningham’s dangerous foul on Jacy Sheldon with Indiana up 17 points and 46 seconds remaining.

He said, “I did not understand [Cunningham’s foul]. When you are winning a game by 17 points and you doing this, to me, stupid foul; this is just disrespectful.” He was baffled why Sheldon and Lindsay Allen got ejected while Cunningham stayed in. Meanwhile, Fever coach Stephanie White directed her anger at officials for what she called inconsistent protection of Caitlin Clark.

She was questioning Clark’s third-quarter technical: “There wasn’t an explanation for the technical [Clark] got. I think it was pretty obvious stuff was brewing.” Crew chief Ashley Gloss maintained that Clark earned the tech. “After the foul by Sheldon, Clark reacted in an unsportsmanlike manner towards Sheldon.” But White saw a season-long pattern of her star getting targeted without recourse.

What should’ve been a triumphant night for Indiana became a referendum on WNBA officiating, yet again. Both the coaches were feeling wronged for entirely different reasons. Meziane saw Cunningham’s neck-grabbing takedown of Sheldon as needless violence from a team already coasting to victory. While White argued that Clark faced unnecessary scrutiny.

The league is now facing mounting pressure. Officiating controversies have overshadowed yet another marquee game. As the Fever prepare for their July 1 Cup final, this ugly win has exposed deeper tensions that commissioner Cathy Engelbert can’t ignore much longer. At least not when even basic foul calls spark this level of outrage from both benches.