No team has leaned into its battles with the referees more than the Indiana Fever. From their on-court reactions to their social media posts, the spotlight has followed them closely. Caitlin Clark posted “Got fined $200 for this,” after she had commented, “Refs can’t stop us,” following Indiana’s Game 3 win over the Atlanta Dream. That fiery attitude carried into the semifinals, but the momentum didn’t last. The Fever’s three-game postseason win streak came to a sudden halt with a tough loss in Game 2. But there’s a connection.

Against the Las Vegas Aces, Stephanie White’s Fever had a tough night, collapsing in a 68-90 blowout. Unlike the Game 1 thrill, A’ja Wilson and her squad made sure Game 2 was never in doubt. After the loss, however, White turned her attention to the officials, the familiar Indiana theme this season. This time, she added a sharp twist, suggesting that fouls were being whistled in ten-second intervals!

“Well, it’s hard for us to find flow when there’s a foul call every 10 seconds. I mean, it just really is,” White put it in the post-game presser. The Fever’s head coach was visibly upset with the officiating in Game 2 vs the Aces. Her frustration was valid, as nothing was going Fever’s way. Kelsey Mitchell, who lit up Game 1 with 34 points, was locked down. The Aces limited her to 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting, including 1-of-6 from three. Without Mitchell’s spark, Indiana’s offense struggled badly.

The game carried a strange rhythm. At times, it felt overly physical. At others, whistles stopped play again and again. The Fever finished 11-of-15 from the free-throw line, while the Aces went 15-of-21. And these disruptions in play due to free throws are what White believes caused the Fever’s undoing, besides acknowledging their own shortcomings.

“When they’re at the free throw line, we can’t get up and down the floor, and that’s a challenge. They were much more aggressive and physical defensively. We didn’t counter that with our off-ball actions or with our back cuts. So they took us out of our comfort zone. I mean, offense is about rhythm. It’s about timing. It’s about spacing. We allowed them to do that, and they kept us from doing it,” White said.

But blaming officials isn’t a new theme for White. She has been critical of officials the entire year. Earlier in the playoffs, she picked up a technical foul against the Atlanta Dream for her protests. She also used both her challenges earlier in the game, saying mediocre performance by officials “isn’t anything that’s new.”

The Fever HC has been fined for her criticism, too. Her comments on the league after a loss to the New York Liberty in May and her public outcry in June after a physical win over the Connecticut Sun are just some examples of her battle with the WNBA refs. Compared to those rants, her Game 2 remarks were tame. Still, her frustration was easy to spot.

Despite the setback, the Fever’s road trip is not a disaster. Taking one of two games in Las Vegas gives them momentum. With the next two contests at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the series is far from finished. What Indiana needs is their coach Stephanie White to recollect herself and her team for the upcoming showdown in Indiana.

However, the 2025 MVP A’ja Wilson is taking no half-measures against her opponents. She has issued a warning for what’s next for Indiana.

Stephanie White has a major A’ja Wilson problem on her hands

The Las Vegas Aces offense runs through A’ja Wilson. The same can be said about Kelsey Mitchell and the Indiana Fever. The two semifinal games are proof of the same. Game 1: Kelsey on 34 and A’ja on 16, the Fever won. Game 2: A’ja on 25 and Kelsey on 13, the Aces won. What’s more unfortunate is that Las Vegas has found a way to stifle the Fever’s offensive leader.

In game 2, rather than double-teaming Mitchell, the Aces were using a secondary post on her to stop her quick drives. The result? a 4 of 14 shooting for Mitchell. On the other hand, Wilson has found a way to crack Aliyah Boston’s powerful defense by taking early shots before Boston closes in on her.

But Wilson is ready for a physical matchup in Game 3, too. As she puts it, “It was no different than any other time I play Aliyah, or any other big in this league. It’s always very physical – and it’s playoffs, so they let you get away with a lot of different things, and that doesn’t really change much of the game and our system, so we’re really just going to continue to buckle in.”

This shows that the 2025 MVP is ready to take on physical battles inside the paint with the 2023 ROTY. With Becky Hammon drawing up so many counter-strategies, it falls onto Stephanie White to draw up a new plan with her limited resources. But with key players like Lexie Hull entering their wear and tear expiry date, it will be hard. But not impossible. And Indiana has shown time and again that they only need a sliver of an entry before they come barging in.