Fever Coach Bluntly Called Out Officials After Caitlin Clark, Sun Players Scuffle

White didn't mince words after the heated contest.

ndiana Fever guard Clark and head coach White against the Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun provided plenty of fireworks in their matchup Tuesday night during the final night of Commissioner's Cup play.

Caitlin Clark and Jacy Sheldon jawed all night, which eventually boiled over and led to Clark getting knocked to the ground after a shove from Sun guard Marina Mabrey, plus a heaping dish of technical and flagrant fouls. Clark iced the game with a deep three-pointer that Sheldon scrambled to defend in the fourth quarter, which led to even more words and Clark taking a moment to hype up the fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

No player was ejected after the third-quarter fracas, which carved the path for a hard flagrant foul from Fever guard Sophie Cunningham on Sheldon and another scuffle toward the end of the game. Cunningham, Sheldon and Sun guard Lindsay Allen were ejected after the scrum with less than a minute to play.

Fans and the broadcast crew ripped the officials for allowing the game to continue to escalate and specifically for their decision to leave Mabrey in the game after the first confrontation between teams. Fever head coach Stephanie White felt the same way in her postgame press conference.

"It was pretty obvious that stuff was brewing," White said to reporters after the Fever's 88–71 win over the Sun. "When the officials don't get control of the ball game, when they allow that stuff to happen—and it's been happening all season long, it's not just this game—this is what happens, right?

"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 gonna compete. And they're going to have their teammate's backs."

White added that she began talking with the officials during the first quarter because the game already felt like it was bound for a boiling point.

"You could tell this was going to happen," she continued. "So, [the officials] got to get control of it, they got to be better."

Stephanie White starts the press conference by saying she’ll take all questions related to officiating, then goes on an impassioned diatribe about the officiating: pic.twitter.com/qFQM7Cfkyg

— Chloe Peterson (@chloepeterson67) June 18, 2025

With the hard-fought win, the Fever claimed a spot in the Commissioner's Cup final where they will face the Minnesota Lynx on July 1.

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