Caitlin Clark picked up her fifth technical foul of the season during a heated Monday contest between the Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury — and the WNBA will not be overturning it, The Athletic reported Wednesday.
Under league rules, any player who accumulates eight technical fouls during the season is automatically suspended for one game. With 27 games still remaining on Indiana’s 44-game schedule, the call puts Clark in a precarious position.
The technical stemmed from an on-court confrontation in which Clark fouled Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner, leading to the two players needing to be separated. Clark then directed clapping toward the Mercury bench, which prompted referee Gerda Gatling to assess the penalty.
Clark, 24, had strong words about the call, describing it as “ridiculous” and calling out Gatling by name.
“I went to Gerda, and I said, ‘Why’d you give me a technical foul?’ She said because I was ‘clapping and instigating,’” Clark said, per The Athletic. “I said, ‘OK, then you just don’t like competitive basketball.’ And that’s just facts. That’s just reality.”
Clark was not alone in receiving a technical during the altercation. Bonner, Mercury teammate Alyssa Thomas, and Fever players Sophie Cunningham and Myisha Hines-Allen were all also assessed technicals.
Indiana head coach Stephanie White acknowledged Clark’s competitive fire but said the young star needs to exercise more judgment on the court.
“There are natural things that happen that the energy of the game creates when you do get those (technical fouls), but there are some that we can be a little bit more in control (of),” White said. “And so yes, we’ll continue to remind her, and I think she has to have an awareness.”
Despite the controversy, Clark continues to put up historic numbers. She is currently in the middle of a WNBA record streak, having posted at least 20 points and five assists in six straight games.
The Fever and Mercury are scheduled to face off again Wednesday evening in Indianapolis.
