Caitlin Clark was whistled for a technical foul on Monday in a contentious meeting between the Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury, and her fifth of the season will not be rescinded upon review, The Athletic reported Wednesday.
A player who reaches eight technical fouls in the WNBA receives an automatic one-game suspension.
The Fever have played just 17 games of their 44-game schedule.
Clark was charged with the technical after she fouled Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner and the two had to be separated. Clark then clapped in the direction of the Mercury bench, triggering the call.
Clark, 24, labeled the technical as “ridiculous” and called out referee Gerda Gatling for assessing the penalty.
“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 the only player charged with a technical in the on-court confrontation. Also receiving the penalty were Bonner, Alyssa Thomas of the Mercury, and Indiana’s Sophie Cunningham and Myisha Hines-Allen.
Fever coach Stephanie White said she appreciates the passion with which Clark plays but that she needs to be smart.
“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.”
Clark is in the midst of a WNBA record streak of six consecutive games of at least 20 points and five assists.
The Fever and Mercury meet again Wednesday night in Indianapolis.
–Field Level Media
