Tempers flare in Indiana’s win over Connecticut

Connecticut’s Tina Charles shoots over Indiana’s Natasha Howard (6) in Tuesday night’s WNBA game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)

On a Tuesday night in Indianapolis, Connecticut Sun first-year head coach Rachid Mezaine said he was happy his struggling team found some character.

The Sun stood up for each other in a chippy WNBA contest at Gainbridge Field House. Indiana, with help from New York who beat Atlanta, clinched a spot in July’s Commissioner’s Cup championship game with an 88-71 victory over the Sun, who have lost three in a row and four of their last five games.

But two of the defining plays in the game where a hard third quarter foul on Indiana superstar Caitlin Clark by Connecticut’s Marina Mabrey and a flagrant foul by Indiana’s Sophie Cunningham who grabbed Connecticut’s Jacy Sheldon around the neck and brought her down to the floor in the final minute of the game, sparking another scuffle of players on the floor.

If this was baseball, Cunningham’s foul might be considered a retaliatory play in response to Mabrey’s third quarter shove of Clark to the floor or a teammate looking out for another teammate.

Indiana head coach Stephanie White was asked what she thought of Cunningham’s late foul. “Just a flagrant foul,” she said simply.

Both teams criticized the officials in post-game news conferences.

“When officials don’t get control of the game, when they allow that stuff to happen and it’s been happening all season, all season long. It’s not just this game. This is what happens,” White said. “You’ve got competitive women, the best in the world and when you allow them to play physical they will compete and they will have their teammate’s back.”

Connecticut’s Olivia Nelson-Ododa said, “When they’re not managing the game properly, this is what happens. A lot of stuff was escalating through the game. This isn’t the first time this has happened.”

The Fever (6-5) had a 10-point lead with 4:48 remaining in the third quarter when Connecticut’s Jacy Sheldon poked Clark in the eye battling for a rebound. Covering her eye, Clark bumped into Sheldon and bounced off her. Mabrey rushed in and gave her a push, sending Clark to the floor.

Sheldon was hit with a flagrant foul while Clark and Tina Charles each received technical fouls. No one was ejected as a result of the incident.

Nelson-Ododa was asked what she thought of the play. “I see it as defending our teammate. We will have her back no matter what happens,” she said.

However, Cunningham and Sheldon were both ejected for their roles in the play with 46 seconds remaining.

After a few minutes of talk about the officials, Clark, who scored a team-leading 20 points with six rebounds and two steals, urged the media to talk about the game and the Fever’s berth in the Commissioner’s Cup final in July against the defending Cup champion Minnesota Lynx. “You guys came for basketball, let’s talk about basketball,” she said. “Come on now, We’re heading to the Commissioner’s Cup, that’s pretty exciting.”

Indiana, who handed New York their first loss of the season on Saturday with a 102-88 victory at Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, needed some help from the Liberty to earn a spot in the final. The Fever needed the Liberty to beat Atlanta, which they did, 86-81.

Indiana and New York both finished 4-1 in Commissioner’s Cup play but the Fever advance thanks to their head-to-head win over the Liberty on Saturday.

Kelsey Mitchell had 17 points for the Fever while Natasha Howard had 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

“I thought we were physical on defense which is something we lacked in the first half,” Clark said.

Charles led the Sun with 20 points, four rebounds and a season-high three assists. It was her fourth game of the season with at least 20 points.

Nelson-Ododa scored 14 points, sinking 6-of-8 shots, and had a team-high eight rebounds. Jaelyn Brown rounded out the Sun’s double-digit scorers with a season-high 13 points, along with one rebound, one steal and one block in the game.

Charles had six of Connecticut’s first 12 points as the Fever took an early 16-12 lead. Charles finished the first quarter with 10 points as the Sun cut Indiana’s lead to one after one quarter, 24-23.

Indiana used a 10-4 run to extend their lead to eight in the second quarter and had an eight-point lead at the half, 47-39.

While Mabrey had a team-high eight rebounds, she finished with just six points. She went 0-for-6 from three-point range, the first game she hasn’t hit a three-point shot this season. Mabrey came into the game leading the Sun in points (17.6).

The Sun had a season-low three baskets from three-point range, hitting just 3-of-21 shots.

Connecticut returns to action on Wednesday night when they host the Phoenix Suns and former Sun All-Star Alyssa Thomas beginning at 7 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Indiana 88, Connecticut 71
At Indianapolis
Connecticut (71) Charles 6-17 8-8 20, Nelson-Ododa 6-8 2-2 14, Hartley 1-6 0-0 2, Mabrey 2-9 2-2 6, Sheldon 1-4 0-0 2, Peters 1-4 2-2 4, Morrow 0-0 0-0 0, Marshall 0-1 1-2 1, Diaby 0-1 2-2 2, Allen 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 5-7 1-2 13, Rivers 3-6 0-0 7. Totals 25-64 18-20 71
Indiana (88) Howard 5-8 6-6 16, Boston 4-9 0-0 9, Mitchell 8-18 0-0 17, Hull 2-5 2-2 8, Clark 6-12 4-4 20, Dantas 4-9 3-4 13, Turner 0-0 0-0 0, Timpson 0-0 0-0 0, Colson 0-2 0-0 0, Cunningham 2-5 0-0 5, Totals 31-68 15-16
Connecticut (2-9)       23  16  13  19  — 71
Indiana (6-5)                 24  23  21  20  — 88
Three-point goals: Connecticut 3-21 (Charles 0-1, Hartley 0-2, Mabrey 0-6, Sheldon 0-3, Peters 0-3, Allen 0-1, Brown 2-2, Rivers 1-3); Indiana 12-26 (Boston 1-1, Mitchell 1-7, Hull 2-3, Clark 4-6, Dantas 2-5, Colson 0-2, Cunningham, 1-2)