A Hard Foul on Caitlin Clark Causes a Ruckus

Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever won their first home game over the weekend, but one particular play is getting way more attention than the victory:

• The foul: Chennedy Carter of the Chicago Sky gave Clark a hard shoulder-check during Saturday's game and knocked her to the floor, reports ESPN. Watch it here. Carter, called for an away-from-the-ball foul, declined to answer questions about it after the game.
• Upgraded: On Sunday, the WNBA upgraded the foul against Carter to a flagrant one, though it did not suspend or fine her, per the AP.
• A pattern? Fever coach Christie Sides took to social media after the game to complain that the league is letting other teams routinely rough up rookie Clark, the No. 1 pick. "Unacceptable," she wrote. "When will the consistent complaints be heard?!? Something has to be done!" On Sunday, she added to reporters: "That was a non-basketball play that needed to be called in that moment."

• What Clark says: "Yeah, I wasn't expecting that," she said of the foul after the game. "But it's just like, respond, calm down and let your play do the talking," she said, per NBC Sports. "It's a physical game—go make the free throw and then execute on offense. Feel like that's what we did." Clark did make her free throw after the foul, and the Fever would go on to win the game 71-70. On Sunday, she added: "I grew up playing basketball with the boys. It's always been physical and feisty and you have to find a way to hold your own."
• Angel Reese: The bad blood between Reese and Clark that emerged in college appears to be continuing in the pros. After Clark got knocked to the flood by Carter, cameras caught Chicago's Reese standing up and cheering on the sideline, per Fox News. The league fined Reese $1,000 for failing to speak to reporters after the game.

(More Caitlin Clark stories.)