It took Caitlin Clark ninety seconds to record a technical foul against the New York Liberty. She rammed into a hard Jonquel Jones screen, which Clark thought was illegal. She immediately protested against the referee, receiving her sixth technical of the season in the process. The frustrations for the Indiana Fever against the officials did not stop there, as Clark and Aliyah Boston suffered the same fate later on in the game on back-to-back possessions. 

The Liberty was gaining momentum with a quick 5-0 run, and the Fever’s sloppiness continued. Caitlin Clark gathered a handoff and tried to find her midrange spot with Marine Fathoux defending her. Just as she was getting her shot off, Clark was whistled for an offensive foul. And an already frustrated Clark had some words with the referees, but restrained herself enough to avoid another technical. 

Moments later, Aliyah Boston grabbed the steal on the very next play and was trying to bring the ball up with Marine Johannes pressuring her. Boston tried to shrug her off, leaving Johannes on the floor. She was called for an offensive foul, leaving the Indiana crowd at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse restless. 

“Back-to-back offensive foul calls on Indiana push-offs—first Caitlin, then Aliyah—and the crowd at Gainbridge is booing loudly,” Myles Ehrlich reported. 

The Indiana Fever’s frustration with the referees did not stop there. Later on in the game, Clark went up for a layup through the traffic. But Breanna Stewart rose up and blocked the shot. However, as her hand was coming down, it smacked Clark across the face. While the contact didn’t appear to be intentional, a referee seemed to watch it happen on the replay without calling a foul. You could see referee Roy Gulbeyan directly behind, watching the play unfold, but he still did not call the foul.

“Stewie follows through on a clean block and claws Caitlin in the eye… no review…” Mick Talks Hoops wrote.

And, on the other end of the court, Aliyah Boston was always going to have a tough time in the paint and found herself in foul trouble early in the fourth quarter as she accumulated four fouls. 

Naturally, the refereeing once again came under scrutiny. Clark doesn’t hesitate to call out the poor officiating, nor does Stephanie White. She was enraged against the Golden State Valkyries after heavy contact on her leg led to a no-call. It was followed by a foul called on Boston at the other end. 

“I got kneed right in the quad. That hurts. Like, the ref can’t miss that, and then I have to play with a contusion in my leg the rest of the game. Like, it’s ridiculous,” Clark said in the post-game press conference then.

So, if the Fever camp is truly unhappy with the officiating in this game, you can expect another round of call-outs.