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CAITLIN Clark has been left frustrated following Wednesday’s clash with the Las Vegas Aces.
The Indiana Fever lost just their third game since the summer break on Wednesday at the hands of the reigning WNBA champions, 86-75.
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Rookie of the Year candidate Clark finished the game with 16 points, six assists, and three rebounds.
In doing so, she extended her own record of being the only player to have totaled at least 15 points and five assists to 16 – six more than anyone else, as per StatsMamba.
Despite this, it was a rough night for Clark, who got physical with Aces star Jackie Young during the third quarter.
After missing a layup, Clark’s right hand appeared to strike Young in the face.
Almost simultaneously, Young’s elbow hit Clark’s face, with both falling to the floor, clutching their faces.
A review followed, with officials deeming it a common foul.
Fast forward to the fourth quarter, Clark was called for an offensive foul on Chelsea Gray, after the Fever guard was deemed to have pushed her counterpart to the floor as she drove forward.
Clearly furious, Clark immediately looked for the officials, before being ushered away by teammates and head coach Christie Sides.
Following the game, Clark alluded to being unhappy at some of the offensive fouls called against them.
“The offensive fouls are definitely surprising at times,” she said.
“I feel like I do get held and get quite a bit of contact throughout the game and then you get hit with some of those when you take some contact and give contact back. It is what it is.
“I don’t know…apparently they see something different, and then we have to use our challenge to try to not let AB (Aliyah Boston) have a fifth foul in the third quarter that basically takes her out of the game, we lose a challenge, we lose a timeout.”
But while it may have been a frustrating night at times for Clark, she was able to see the bright side of the result.
She told reporters that their goal had been to hold opponents to 84 points or below, something they only narrowly missed out on.
Clark said she was “proud” of their defensive effort, adding that while they “struggled to make shots,” she felt they “never let that affect our defense.”
This defensive effort may have pleased Clark, but it wasn’t enough to prevent two-time MVP A’ja Wilson from setting a new league record in single-season scoring.
Her 27 points on the night brought her season total to 956, surpassing the previous record of 239 of Seattle Storm star Jewell Loyd in 2023.
On the topic of offense, it wasn’t a great night for the Fever, with Clark highlighting their room for improvement in that phase of the game.
“We just seemed a step slow on the offensive end especially,” she said.
“And especially with the type of defense they’re gonna play, they’re gonna be physical, they’re gonna be in your space, we have to set and use screens better.”
The Fever have just two days to work on their offensive consistency with a rematch against Las Vegas scheduled for 7:30pm ET on Friday.
It will be available to watch via subscription on Fubo and WNBA League Pass on YouTube.
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