Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White sounded off after a foul wasn't called on Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas, who appeared to push down on the neck of Caitlin Clark in the second quarter of Wednesday's 111-109 defeat.
"It was egregious," White told reporters postgame, including The Athletic's James Boyd. "The fact that it was a no-call. I heard about it at halftime, I brought it to the attention of the officials at halftime .. you gotta call it. It's absolutely egregious and utterly disrespectful."
White added: "You're coming in here aware of what happened two nights ago and that shit still happens? Absolutely unacceptable."
Indiana and Phoenix also squared off Monday evening at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, with the Fever prevailing 86-77 in a chippy affair.
Six technical fouls were awarded between the two clubs, including a pair to Indiana forward Myisha Hines-Allen that resulted in an ejection from the contest.
The physical play carried over into Wednesday's rematch as Thomas appeared to make contact with Clark's neck during a scramble for a loose ball.
A big emphasis for officials this offseason was not letting things get out of control. Not sure how this goes uncalled and isn’t even reviewed.
— Annie Costabile (@AnnieCostabile) June 25, 2026
Have to imagine this gets sent to the league. pic.twitter.com/7jvMKa2Ttt
White also slammed the officials for not assessing a flagrant foul on Mercury forward Valeriane Ayayi. Clark landed on top of Ayayi's foot as she closed out on the Fever star's 3-point attempt, yet the foul wasn't upgraded despite a review.
She remained in the game after this sequence (6:25, 2Q), but it appears to be the play in which Caitlin Clark tweaked her back. She grabbed at her back after falling and looked uncomfortable walking back to the bench. https://t.co/HMaXo61Wcl pic.twitter.com/M042XiAIHj
— hank 🇰🇷 (@Brian_Haenchen) June 25, 2026
Clark appeared to be in discomfort afterward and later left the contest in the third quarter with a back injury. She has been routinely listed as probable on the team's injury report with a back ailment after missing one game due to it.
"We have a generational talent and a WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots right there that weren't called," White said. "And I just say again, absolutely unacceptable. ... The one thing we keep asking for is consistency. She is not called the same way everybody else is called."
