Caitlin Clark Befuddled by Kahleah Copper in Feisty Fever Win
Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever completed a season sweep of the Phoenix Mercury on Friday, defeating them at home by a score of 98-89.
While the Fever jumped out to a 33-16 lead after the first quarter, the Mercury stormed back and even took a lead at one point in the second half before Clark and Company righted the ship and secured a big win.
It was a pretty chippy contest from both sides, who don't appear to have much love for one another. Perhaps the most notable moment came when Mercury and Team USA star guard Kahleah Copper got upset about a foul in the second half.
Cameras caught Clark responding to Copper's frustration by appearing to say, "What? It’s just a foul.”
LMAO KAH got mad at the foul. Caitlin was confused and said “what it’s just a foul” pic.twitter.com/5ErHzYoRK5
— correlation (@nosyone4) August 17, 2024
That wasn't the only tense moment between these two teams. Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell and Mercury player Natasha Cloud were each awarded technical fouls after Mitchell forcefully shoved Cloud at the end of a play. The two then got face to face and were jawing back and forth at one another before the technicals were given.
Double tech, Kelsey Mitchell and Natasha Cloud. Here’s what happened: pic.twitter.com/p0MSAjfBn0
— Matthew Byrne (@MatthewByrne1) August 17, 2024
Mercury stars (and recent Olympic gold medalists) Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi also received technical fouls; although both of them were due to them being upset with the referees rather than their Fever foes.
Another exchange, this time involving Brittney Griner and Aliyah Boston. Couldn’t tell from here if the frustration was directed at the ref, or Boston. But nowhere near as much flare as the first.
— Matthew Byrne (@MatthewByrne1) August 17, 2024
Griner just got T’d up on the bench. pic.twitter.com/HptV255Lft
While much of the game ended up being chippy, it was Clark's awesome performance that ultimately stole the show and helped Indiana improve to 12-15 on the season. She finished the game with 29 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds in 36 minutes played.
With this win on Friday, Indiana is now just two games behind Phoenix for the No. 6 spot in the WNBA standings.
GRANT YOUNG
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.