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Caitlin Clark scores 23 points in Fever win over Sky, Angel Reese challenges flagrant foul call

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The rivalry that WNBA fans have been waiting for between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese got even better on Sunday afternoon when the Indiana Fever defeated the Chicago Sky in a hard-fought 91-83 victory.

Clark finished with 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field to go along with eight rebounds and nine assists. She started well for the Fever, making her first three shots and scoring seven points in the first quarter, matching her points total in Thursday’s win over the Atlanta Dream.

Reese was called for a flagrant foul on review after hitting Clark in the head while driving to the basket, which led to foul trouble that kept Reese out for most of the second half.

After the game, Reese disputed the foul, which was ruled grossly unfair, saying it was a “basketball play” attempting to block Clark’s shot.

“In a basketball game, you can’t control the referees,” she told reporters. “Obviously tonight’s game was heavily affected by the referees.”

“I’m always going for the ball, but am I going to play that clip 20 times before Monday?” Reese added.

The Sky rookie also suggested he and his teammates received special treatment from the officials on Sunday.

“I think we went out there a lot of times and we went out there strong and we didn’t get a lot of calls,” Reese said. “Looking back at the tape, there were a lot of things that didn’t get called. I think some guys got some special whistles.”

When asked about Reese’s foul, Clark acknowledged that Reese was in the ball and chose to focus on the two free throws he was supposed to make.

“It’s part of basketball,” she said. “It’s the reality of it. You just try to play ball and get blocks. Those things happen.”

Reese picked up four fouls in the first three quarters, halting a good run for the star, who led the Sky with nine points at halftime. Reese finished with 11 points, a team-high 13 rebounds and five assists.

Marina Mabry led Chicago with 22 points, followed by Chennedy Carter with 18 and Dana Evans with 12. Camila Cardozo had 10 points and 10 rebounds to help the Sky establish their frontcourt dominance against Indiana.

But Aaliyah Boston and Nalyssa Smith took control in the second half. Boston, in particular, worked well with Clark as the game went on and won the individual match against her former South Carolina teammate, Cardozo. Boston finished with 19 points and a Fever game-high 14 rebounds, while Smith added 15 points and seven rebounds.

With Clark and Boston getting the most defensive attention in the second half, Kelsey Mitchell was Indiana’s star player down the stretch. She finished with 17 points. Katie Lou Samuelson added nine points on 3-of-4 3-pointers. The Fever also beat the Sky, 71-70, on June 1.

Sunday’s loss to the Fever marked the Sky’s fourth straight loss and dropped them to 4-9 this season, one game behind Indiana (5-10) in the Eastern Conference standings. After Friday’s loss to the Washington Mystics, Witherspoon was asked if he was considering making any changes to his starting lineup but said he wasn’t thinking about it and eventually walked out of the press conference.

but, The new lineup took to the stage Carter and Lindsay Allen replaced Evans and Diamond DeShields on Sunday, and while the switch seemed to suit Carter, Allen only managed to score two points.

Here’s how the match unfolded on Sunday afternoon:

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  • Kelsey Mitchell made the second free throw to give the Fever a 91-83 victory.

  • Aliyah Boston beat the shot clock in the paint to give Indiana an 86-81 lead.

  • Caitlin Clark hit a big three with three minutes left to put the Fever up 84-77.

  • Angel Reese was limited in the second half by foul trouble, but Sky coach Theresa Witherspoon brought her back into the game with five individual shots and the Fever built a five-point lead.

  • Caitlin Clark got back into rhythm in the third quarter, as she now leads the Fever with 18 points to go with five rebounds and five assists.

  • Angel Reese picked up three fouls in the third quarter, the most recent for hand-checking Caitlin Clark on the wing, and is now on the bench with four fouls for the game.

  • The Fever has done well getting the ball to Aaliyah Boston in the post, who scored 27 points in last Thursday’s win over the Dream, including 13 in the third quarter.

  • Marina Mabry started the second half strong for the Sky with 10 points in the third quarter and has 18 points so far in the match.

  • Katie Lou Samuelson hit a 3-pointer (her third of the game) with 1.1 seconds left to play to give the Fever a 47-43 lead at halftime.

    Samuelson and Caitlin Clark each had nine points and Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 10 points.

    Chicago’s leading scorer in the first half was Angel Reese with nine points.

  • Angel Reese drew a foul on Indiana’s Nalyssa Smith, who received three personal attacks and was sent to the bench.

    The Sky dominated rebounding, with Camila Cardozo scoring 10 points and Reese scoring seven.

  • Fever coach Christy Sides makes a questionable challenge on a blocking foul by Katie Lou Samuelson, seemingly arguing that Chicago’s Isabel Harrison committed an offensive foul (or a traveling foul). Indiana loses the challenge and has no further chances in the first half.

  • The Fever were in disarray on their final attack of the first quarter, with the shot clock expiring while they tried to decide who was going to take a shot.

    The Sky led 26-23 after the first period.

  • Dana Evans and Caitlin Clark get into an argument after getting tangled up, and Chennedy Carter steps in.

  • Caitlin Clark started well, scoring seven points on 3-of-3 shooting.

  • One matchup that may be in the spotlight today is between former University of South Carolina teammates Aaliyah Boston and Camila Cardozo.





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