Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark believes she has been given special treatment by WNBA officials after suffering an 86-75 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Wednesday night.
Clark is the primary facilitator of the Fever’s offense, meaning she gets the opportunity to touch the ball more than any other Indiana player.
This also means attracting more contact with opposing players.
In one such instance, Clark was visibly upset with the officials after she was called for an offensive foul when she drove past Aces guard Jackie Young and made a layup, only to have the play called back because Clark made inadvertent minor contact with Young’s face.
Clark said the Aces’ aggressive nature “worked,” so he expects more from it throughout the rest of the season.
Clark believes she is receiving special treatment from WNBA referees for offensive fouls
Clark talked about his unique skill set that can sometimes get him whistled at.
“The offensive fouls are definitely surprising at times,” Clark said after the loss. “I feel like I get held and I get contacted quite a bit during games and I get hit sometimes when I get contacted and I get contacted back. It is what it is.”
Clark said the only way he can quickly combat the physicality of other players is to use his quickness more.
Reigning WNBA Finals MVP A’ja Wilson also broke the single-season scoring record with her 940th and 941st points on a jumper just before halftime. The milestone comes after Wilson missed her first game since 2019 on Sunday with an ankle injury.
Las Vegas lost the game against the New York Liberty in exciting fashion, but reacted strongly against Indiana.
Wilson’s feat broke the previous record set by Jewell Lloyd in 2023 with 939 points. Wilson shined on Wednesday with a performance of 27 points and 12 rebounds.
Behind her was Chelsea Gray, among the starters, with 11 points, while Alysha Clark and Tiffany Hayes came off the bench with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
On the other hand, Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever’s efforts with 24 points, followed by Clark with 15 points and six assists. Despite a low-scoring game, Aliyah Boston was behind Wilson in rebounds with 10.
With this win, Las Vegas has a record of 23-13 and is in fourth place in the league standings and second in the Western Conference. On the other hand, the sixth-seeded Fever have a record of 19-18.
Indiana has three more games, while Las Vegas has four. The teams will meet again on Friday in their final matchup of the regular season.