WNBA fans are unhappy with the referees who didn’t call a foul that would have put Caitlin Clark at the free throw line.
The No. 1 overall draft pick led the Indiana Fever to their third straight victory Wednesday night when they beat the Washington Mystic 88-81.
However, one moment in the game left fans scratching their heads after the referees overlooked a seemingly obvious foul.
Clark, who finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and four steals, was about to attempt a layup when the Mystic’s Stefanie Dolson knocked the ball out of her hands.
‘How is this not a foul on Caitlin Clark???’ one fan captioned a clip of the incident on X.
Caitlin Clark was attempting a layup when Stefanie Dolson knocked the ball out of her hands.
“Look at this #wnba your officiating is a joke,” another chimed in.
‘As a new @WNBA watcher, it seems like they have a serious officiating problem. “I think even the @WWE referees would have caught it,” a third viewer joked.
‘Missed call by wnba officials; This happens way too often to a lot of players,” wrote another, while someone else echoed the sentiment: “Refereeing in wnba is terrible, it actually sucks.”
Clark and the Fever were hit hard by criticism after the team lost its first five games of the season, however, the Iowa alum slammed those who demanded “instant satisfaction.”
“No one came here and said we were going to be WNBA champions from Day 1 in our locker room,” Clark said after Wednesday’s game.
“That was never our goal. Our goal was to get back to the playoffs and we fought for it every night. “It’s the first time we’ve won four consecutive home games since 2015,” he added.
‘You have to have perspective on things, and that also applies to life. How to have perspective on life. And there just needs to be a solid perspective on what this team can accomplish.”
“We had the most difficult schedule to start. We didn’t get to practice much and we played with the most inexperienced team in the WNBA. “So I think this group is starting to click and build some chemistry and it’s one day at a time.”
It’s been a difficult rookie season for the former college superstar, who has been the victim of particularly harsh treatment from other players around the league.
Most recently, her old rival Angel Reese committed a flagrant foul against her during the Fever’s last game against the Chicago Sky.
Reese missed a block and hit Clark in the head as she jumped toward the basket. Although it was an obvious foul, the LSU alum later criticized Clark, claiming the Fever received a “special whistle.”
It happened a couple of weeks after Reese’s Sky teammate Chennedy Carter checked on Clark’s hip.
Using his own body weight, Carter tackled the rookie while waiting for the tackle during the third quarter.
Carter apparently yelled “bitch” at the 22-year-old, however, the Chicago player notably escaped with only a personal foul.
WNBA fans were unhappy with referees who didn’t call a seemingly obvious foul
Clark finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists during the Fever’s 88-81 victory.
Clark’s fierce rivalry with Reese and her teammates by proxy has driven WNBA viewership to never-before-seen heights.
He The Fever’s 91-83 victory over Sky on Sunday was the league’s most-watched game in more than two decades.
The highly anticipated matchup averaged 2.25 million viewers, a 225% increase over an average match last season.
Viewership peaked at 3 million households, making the matchup the most-watched match in 23 years.