Is the media putting Caitlin Clark's WNBA rookie year on the microscope?
Her answer post-game sounds like it.
On Sunday, Clark's Indiana Fever defeated Chicago Sky, 91-83, for a second straight win. The super rookie almost pulled off a double-double with 23 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds.
The victory, however, is overshadowed by questions on Clark's view of the hard foul committed by her college rival and Sky center Angel Reese.
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"What's going through my mind? I need to make these two free throws. That's all I'm thinking about. It's just part of basketball. It is what it is," Clark said when asked about the foul.
"She's trying to make a play on the ball, and get the block. It happens."
The incident occurred in the third quarter when Clark drove to the hoop for a lay-up. Reese tried to catch up, went for the ball, and hit Clark's head instead.
The referees immediately whistled it for a foul and called for a review for a possible flagrant.
Angel Reese defends foul
Reese is equally frustrated with the questions about the hard foul on Clark.
She insisted it was normal basketball and not something to get hung up on.
"It's a basketball play. I can't control the refs. They affected the game obviously a lot tonight," she said.
"I'm always going for the ball. Y'all are going to play that clip, what, 20 times before Monday?"
With the loss, Sky falls to 4-10, and Fever takes over the eighth spot.
It is Fever's second win over Sky this season.
Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark Beef history
Clark and Reese's history goes back to college when they were rivals in the NCAA. The pair were put in the spotlight during a national championships game when Reese's LSU beat Clark's Iowa, and they had a little moment during the game.
Reese made a "You can't see me" gesture in front of Clark in a game in April last year, which the media criticized her for.
Clark was among the first to defend Reese, saying such acts are what make the game fun.
"I don't think Angel should be criticized at all," she said in an ESPN interview two days later. "No matter which way it goes, she should never be criticized for what she did. I'm just one that competes, and she competed. I think everybody knew there was going to be a little trash talk. It's not just me and Angel."
Reese also supports Clark, especially when the latter broke records as part of Iowa.
The Chicago Sky center clarified that there is no beef between her and Clark.
"I don't think people realize it's not personal," she said in an interview with ESPN's Andrea Adelson.
"... I think people just take it like we hate each other. Me and Caitlin Clark don't hate each other. I want everybody to understand that."
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