Firsts are special, right? Well, the Indiana Fever have pretty much made it their mission this season to hand them out – just not the kind anyone wants. The Liberty just got handed their first L of the season thanks to the Fever. The Connecticut SuN had their moment a while back when they grabbed their first win over a Caitlin Clark-less Indiana on May 30. But in the rematch? Indiana made sure not to let that slide.
But the thing is, this wasn’t just your typical revenge game. This one got ugly. It had tension, it had technicals, it had ejections and by the end of it, even the broadcasters sounded like they needed a cold shower. Now here’s where it all really started. This whole thing wasn’t even about that previous Sun win. It was personal. You could feel it building all night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Clark and a few Connecticut players had some back-and-forths earlier in the game, and well, it exploded.
In the second quarter, things first flared up when Clark was driving into the paint and ran into old college rival Jacy Sheldon. Sheldon played her tough – so tough, she ended up poking Clark right in the eye. A foul was called, but just a regular one. Clark was not having it. She was fuming, and they started jawing at each other before it escalated into some shoving. And just when you thought that would be the peak? Marina Mabrey came charging in like it was WWE and shoved Clark to the ground.
Fans watching were already screaming, “She’s outta here!” But the refs took their sweet time reviewing it, and after all that, Mabrey wasn’t ejected. Instead, Mabrey, Clark, and Sun vet Tina Charles all got hit with techs. Sheldon’s eye-poke foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 1. But no ejection for Mabrey had people – and the broadcast booth – shaking their heads. And just when we thought that was the most heated moment of the game? We were wrong.
May 4, 2025; Iowa City, IA, USA; Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) reacts during the third quarter against the Brazil National Team at Carver-Haweye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
Fast forward to the final 46.1 seconds. The Fever were up 87-70. Pretty much game over, right? But then Sheldon went in for a layup and bam – Sophie Cunningham full-on grabbed her and chucked her to the floor. No play on the ball. Just vibes and rage. Immediately, Fever guard Lindsay Allen stepped in, probably trying to prevent a total meltdown, but Sheldon jumped right back up and went straight for Cunningham. The benches started shifting, the crowd was roaring, and it was just chaos.
After what felt like an eternity, the refs finally sorted it out. Cunningham with flagrant-2 and tossed. Sheldon and Allen both got techs and also ejected. That’s three players gone in under a minute. And honestly, the broadcasters had had it by then. But who did they think is at fault? No, not the players. But the refs instead.
“Blaming this all on the officials tonight,” one said. “If they had taken care of business earlier, we wouldn’t be in this situation.” They repeated it multiple times. “I’m exhausted with this game and the officiating,” one of them said.
Developing Story…..
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