Stephanie White should have been solely talking about the surging Indiana Fever claiming a spot in the prestigious Commissioner’s Cup finals. The Fever coach’s postgame comments should have been fawning over Caitlin Clark’s performance in her two games back from an injury, sparking the Fever to back-to-back wins with a combined 52 points and 11 3-pointers.
Instead, the aftermath of the Fever’s victory over the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday was a focused frustration about WNBA officiating. Rightly so. The crew’s blunders in Indianapolis were a blatant mismanagement of the game after scuffles broke out, including when Caitlin Clark was blindsided by a shove to the court by Marina Mabrey.
“When the officials don’t get control of the ballgame, when they allow stuff to happen, and it’s been happening all season long … this is what happens,” White said. “You’ve got competitive women, who are the best in the world at what they do, right? 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.”
White made her point clear: WNBA officials, catch up.
“They’ve got to get control of it,” she said. “They’ve got to be better.”
