Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images
The Chicago Sky organization and rookie Angel Reese were both fined in the aftermath of Saturday’s 71-70 loss to the Indiana Fever.
The WNBA announced it fined Reese $1,000 because she did not make herself available to the media following the loss. What’s more, the team was fined $5,000 because it did not ensure its players complied with the league’s media rules.
Dylan Manfre @Dylan_Manfre11
#WNBA announced the Chicago Sky and Angel Reese have been fined. #SportsBiz @Sportico pic.twitter.com/ptMXNSsGtW
That wasn’t the only decision the WNBA made after the game.
Alex Andrejev and Shannon Ryan of The Athletic reported the league also upgraded a hard foul committed by Chennedy Carter against Caitlin Clark to a Flagrant 1 following a review. Carter knocked Clark to the ground with a hard shoulder check following a Sky basket, which was called an away-from-the-play foul.
It proved to be costly from Chicago’s standpoint, as Clark was given one free throw and converted. The Fever’s margin of victory was a single point.
“I ain’t answering no Caitlin Clark questions,” Carter told reporters after the contest before criticizing the star rookie on social media:
Nicole Auerbach @NicoleAuerbach
1) rivalries are fun, and clearly we’ve got one.
2) this is why reporters SHOULD ask questions. Carter did have something to say! https://t.co/Uy51JPjVlU
Andrejev and Ryan also noted that “Reese had been criticized on social media during the game for celebrating Carter’s contact with Clark while she was on the bench.”
As for the actual game, the Sky missed an opportunity to at least force overtime down the stretch. After the visitors closed the gap to two points with a late push, Marina Mabrey was fouled with just six seconds remaining. However, she converted just one of her two free throws.
Indiana then inbounded the ball, and Chicago was unable to foul anyone as the time expired thanks to a defensive lapse.
Clark finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Reese countered with eight points and 13 rebounds.
The game generated plenty of interest in large part because of the two star rookies. They faced each other in the 2023 national championship game and again in the 2024 Final Four with Reese’s LSU Tigers winning the first one and Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes earning some revenge in the rematch.
Saturday was their first matchup in the WNBA, and Clark got some early bragging rights thanks to her team’s win.
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