Amid a very physical game between the Indiana Fever and the Phoenix Suns, Stephanie White raised an issue over officiating. After the loss to the Mercury in the second back-to-back game on Wednesday, the Fever coach slammed officiating negligence against Caitlin Clark.

A no-call on one of the plays from Alyssa Thomas became the boiling point for White. After the game, she told reporters that despite the Fever consistently raising the issue, Clark was being unfairly officiated, unlike other stars.

"We have a generational talent and a WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots right there that weren't called…absolutely unacceptable," White told reporters.

White was alluding to a controversial play from Mercury's Alyssa Thomas. During the second quarter, Clark lost her step on her drive to the basket. Thomas rushed to strip the ball off Clark, but in the process, she kneed Clark in the groin.

"We spent all offseason looking at officiating. All offseason! I still say the one thing that we keep asking for is consistency. She is not called the same way everybody else is called," she added.

The replay showed that the Mercury player also had her hand on Clark's throat while trying to continue the play. Despite the appeal from White, the play continued.

The extra physicality was expected after a physical between Mercury's DeWanna Bonner and Clark on Monday. Later, the altercation escalated and involved Fever's Sophie Cunningham.

Cunningham opens up about receiving technical

Tensions flared between the Fever and Mercury, and at the center of it all was DeWanna Bronner, the former Fever star who joined the Mercury.

When the moment between Clark and Bonner took place, both players were handed tenchicals. Following that, Cunningham began pointing at Bonner, who reciprocated. Bonner was led pulled away by her teammates, but by then, she and Cunningham had been handed technicals. Myisha Hines-Allen and Alyssa Thomas also received technicals.

Speaking about the incident, Cunningham said, per SI, "It's fine. You know, I think sometimes, it's a part of the game. I think we kept our heads. You know, I think we could've stopped it a little bit sooner. But at the end of the day, we kept our heads, we finished the ball game well, and that's what we need to do moving forward."

The Fever will face Mercury again next month on July 9, in Phoenix. Given how physical both teams have been against each other, fans have a lot to look forward to.

Do you think the Fever can survive Caitlin Clark's absence if she is ruled out for the next few games? Let us know in the comments.

Folllow Her Sports Nation for more updates!

Written by

Nandjee Ranjan

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar