After an 88-71 win over the Connecticut Sun (2-11) from Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Tuesday night, which included multiple confrontations between players, Indiana Fever (6-5) head coach Stephanie White sounded off on the poor WNBA officiating.
In her postgame media availability, White mentioned that the officials’ lack of control over hard fouls and excessive contact has been a league-wide issue, creating unnecessary tension in games across the league.
“I think it was pretty obvious that stuff was brewing, right? When the officials don’t get control of the ballgame, when they allow that stuff to happen, and it’s been happening all season long, all season long… It’s not just this game. It’s been happening all season long. You’ve got competitive women who are the best in the world at what they do, and when you allow them to play physical, and you allow these things to happen, they’re going to compete, and they’re going to have their teammates’ backs.
“It’s exactly what you expect out of fierce competition. I started talking to the officials in the first quarter, and we knew this was going to happen. You could tell it was going to happen. So they got to get control of it. They got to be better,” White said afterwards.
The incident White was referring to was when Sun guard Jacy Sheldon poked Fever guard Caitlin Clark in the eye, which then drew players to the scrum where Sun guard Marina Mabrey puffed he chest at the hobbled Clark, knocking the former Hawkeye to the court again.
As a result of that incident, Sheldon’s contact was deemed a Flagrant 1 penalty, while Clark, Mabrey, and Sun center Tina Charles were all given techicals.
Unfortunately, the rough play did not stop there as Fever guard Sophie Cunningham grabbed Sheldon’s head while she was going up for a layup with 46 seconds left and Indiana up by 17. Sheldon fell to the ground but immediately got back up, and she and Sun guard Lindsay Allen both rushed Cunningham. The fight spilled over into the fans at the baseline with Cunningham pulling at Sheldon’s hair while Sheldon and Allen grabbed her by the arms.
The result of this confrontation was a Flagrant 2 penalty assessed to Cunningham, which accompanies an immediate ejection. Sheldon and Allen were also ejected for fighting, but each received a technical foul instead of a flagrant.
White continued her tirade on the officiating by stating the league has gotten more skilled and the completion overall has significantly increased, but the officials have not improved by the slightest.
“Players are faster, they’re better, they’re bigger, they’re stronger,” White said. “They’re as good as they’ve ever been there, as athletic as they’ve ever been. The game is fast. Now, things are happening quickly. Everybody’s getting better, except the officials. So we got to find a way to remedy it. I mean, you’ve heard every coach talk about it, so I don’t know what the answer is.”
Even though the victory over the Sun contained high tension, the Fever now will play for the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup against the Minnesota Lynx when the two meet at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on July 1.
As for their next game, Indiana will travel to Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday when the Fever face Kate Martin and the Golden State Valkyries for the first time. That game will begin at 9 p.m. CT and be broadcast on Prime Video.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: ‘This is what happens’: Indiana Fever coach on WNBA’s poor officiating
Reporting by Scout Springgate, Hawkeyes Wire / Hawkeyes Wire
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