Last season, when injuries kept Caitlin Clark out of stretches of games, the bench energy she helped generate became one of the team’s talking points. That has carried into this year, too. The ‘bench mob’ dynamic from that run has stayed alive, and Clark is very much leading it. So, even though she wasn’t playing on July 5 against the Las Vegas Aces — sidelined for the second consecutive game with the back injury that flared up against the Mercury — Clark found her way into another officiating conversation. 

With the Fever trailing 40-41 in the final seconds of the second quarter at T-Mobile Arena, Lexie Hull drove baseline and got a jumper to fall as the buzzer sounded. The referee waved it off, and Clark was immediately on her feet. “That wasn’t even close!” she was caught saying to the officials on camera, per the clip shared by Kyle Ingram. Indiana reviewed; the basket was upheld, and the Fever went into halftime with a 42-41 lead.

Now, Clark’s scrutiny of officiating has been consistent and specific. After the Alyssa Thomas incident, she said: “I did think it was a flagrant foul. Our reffing just needs to be better.”

She has also pushed further on the structural side: “Overall, the league just has to do better. We have to invest in those areas; technology can get better; we can treat the referees a little bit better, paying them like they’re full-time employees.”

That said, the rest of the game itself stayed clean, with no technical or flagrant fouls beyond the Hull call. Cheyenne Parker-Tyus was briefly spotted arguing with officials, but it didn’t escalate.

Indiana controlled the second half, winning 84-68, ensuring Las Vegas’s lowest-scoring game of the season. Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with a team-high scoring night while going 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Aliyah Boston added 18 points and 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season. The Aces, without A’ja Wilson, got 15 from Jackie Young and 12 from Jewell Loyd.

And Hull proved to be a key contributor to the win, helping Indiana outscore Las Vegas 19-17 in the second quarter and head into halftime with a one-point lead (Thanks to her six points). Throw in that buzzer-beater, too. The four rebounds she collected also moved her career total to 472, putting her past Shavonte Zellous (469) for 16th in franchise history, with Natasha Howard (473) just one ahead in 15th.