The on-court tension between the Indiana Fever and the Phoenix Mercury continued in Indianapolis on Wednesday, July 24. In the second game of a back-to-back, the Mercury came out as the winner, but a controversial play on Caitlin Clark by Alyssa Thomas drew heat from the Fever camp.

Indiana coach Stephanie White was livid during the postgame press conference. She called out the officials for not calling a foul on the play.

"It was egregious, the fact that it was a no-call, it's absolutely egregious and utterly disrespectful."

The controversial play happened in the second quarter. With 6:54 minutes remaining in halftime, Clark tripped trying to drive to the basket. Thomas jumped to strip the ball from Clark, but her knee hit the Fever star's groin area.

"We have a generational talent and WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots [against her] right there that weren't called. Absolutely unacceptable... She is not called the same way everybody else is called," White told reporters.

A close look at the video showed Thomas' fist on Clark's throat. The officials didn't call any foul, and the play continued. A reporter asked White if she spoke to the referees during halftime, and she said they didn't review the foul.

That was just the beginning of the troubles for Caitlin Clark during the game.

Stephanie White opens up about Caitlin Clark's injury in Mercury loss

The Indiana Fever’s loss to the Mercury wasn’t the only disappointment for them on Wednesday. They also lost Clark before the fourth quarter with a back injury.

Although there is still no update on Clark’s potential return, Stephanie White isn’t ready to up the risk by forcing her star player’s return.

"I think we've got to be careful. It's a long season. We have to make sure that she's healthy," she said in the same press conference.

Clark has been dealing with a back issue since the start of the season. It is still not clear when she re-aggravated it, but the second-quarter hard foul could be the aggravating factor. She left the game with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The game was tied at 67 when Clark exited. With the Fever star sidelined, the Mercury rallied for a 111-109 win. It was Fever's 8th loss of the season.

Do you agree with White that Clark is unfairly officiated? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Nandjee Ranjan

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar