Former Chicago Sky player Isabelle Harrison is continuing to up the ante on the physicality of the Toronto Tempo. The forward has been showing her dominance on both sides of the court. However, it hasn’t helped her come in a good light for her opponents in the last two nights.
In their June 15 game against the Atlanta Dream, Harrison pulled her former teammate, Angel Reese, down as she went for a layup. Izzy was assessed a flagrant-2 foul and was ejected right away. The Tempo player would’ve certainly wanted to put a cap on her physical defense, but it didn’t work as tonight, she left Indiana Fever’s forward bleeding.
With 5:39 on the clock in the first quarter and the Tempo leading 11-9, Myisha Hines-Allen entered the floor. Clark inbounded the ball to her, and she found her way into the paint closely guarded by Harrison. Before she jumped up for a layup, the Tempo forward’s hand hit her on the nose, and she started profusely bleeding on the floor while moving towards the bench.
The game paused for some time, but no foul call was made on Harrison, and Hines-Allen was taken to the locker room to get further examined. White talked to the referee next to her, but she knew nothing was gonna come out of it since the incident looked accidental and not forced. However, the team did notify its fans immediately.
“Injury Update: Myisha Hines-Allen (face) is questionable to return to tonight’s game,” the Indiana Fever posted at the time.
While the Fever forward remained out in the entire first half to stop her bleeding, she returned to the floor in the third quarter with 3:43 on the clock to substitute for Aliyah Boston. She was not shaken despite the heavy bleeding and dished out two assists in the third quarter itself. Both were scored by Sophie Cunningham for two three-pointers.
Hines-Allen did not score in the 113-91 Fever win on a 0-1 field goal attempt, but helped grab two defensive rebounds and dish out two assists in seven minutes of floor time. Harrison remained in the game and scored 11 points and 8 rebounds with 3 steals in 26 minutes.
It is worth noting that Harrison called Hines-Allen to talk the incident out after the game wrapped up, and the two were visibly okay with each other, sharing smiles and a quick hug. But while everything was good between the two players, the no-call on the play did raise eyebrows around officiating for Indiana once again.
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The referees have been a point of conversation for the Indiana Fever recently. While Caitlin Clark and Co. have largely praised the officials, the Fever point guard called out the referee by name after being assessed a delay-of-the-game foul in the Sun game. The foul was later switched to a delay of the game for the team instead of Clark.
“The delay of game made no sense. It felt like (referee) Tyler {Mirkovich} wanted to insert himself into the game, and that was ridiculous. So, you can ask Tyler, I don’t agree with that,” Clark stated.
Kelsey Mitchell had 27 points shooting on 9-11 from the field, and Sophie Cunningham added 24 points and 6 rebounds from the bench. Caitlin Clark had 21 points, 14 assists, and 5 rebounds, and Aliyah Boston contributed with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. This was finally a complete game for the Indiana Fever, which bulldozed to its fourth consecutive win.
Hopefully for the Fever, Hines-Allen does not have any further injury that emerges postgame. Hines-Allen has been essential in providing the hustle and physicality in the paint. Her thundering block in the last game lifted the entire team. The Fever are finally getting into some rhythm, and it is more important than ever for the team to stay healthy.
