INDIANAPOLIS —

After two games heavily influenced by incidents not directly related to basketball, Fever head coach Stephanie White reached a breaking point.

In Wednesday’s loss to the Mercury, where the final score was 111-109, Caitlin Clark left the game midway through the third quarter due to an injury. Up to that moment, quite a bit had transpired.

During the second quarter, two significant incidents occurred. Clark took a hit and eventually exited the game suffering from a back injury. Following the match, White expressed her frustration about the lack of calls, labeling it “terrible” and “totally disrespectful.”

“We have generational talent and a WNBA superstar who took some cheap shots that went unnoticed,” White stated. “This is simply unacceptable.”

She continued, “We’ve spent the whole offseason focusing on officiating. Consistency is what we’re after. She’s not treated like other players.”

The first incident involved Clark and Alyssa Thomas, who collided while fighting for a loose ball. Thomas hit Clark in the neck, kneeing her in the stomach and straddling her without any foul being called.

Just moments later, Clark was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer and landed awkwardly. Given her ongoing back issues this season, she was slow to get up and seemed to be in pain. Officials looked at the play, but chose not to consider the potential flagrant foul or landing zone violation.

Instead, the review focused on Clark allegedly punching a defender in the face.

Despite the earlier incidents, she returned to play in the second half, only to be ejected midway through the quarter, ultimately missing the rest of the game. Coach White had no updates on Clark’s condition afterward.

This series of events occurred shortly after a previous game between the two teams which featured several scuffles and resulted in multiple technical fouls, creating a tense atmosphere.

“First off, you need to call that foul on Thomas,” White asserted. “This is awful and completely disrespectful.” She further complained about the ongoing situation, saying, “Is this still happening? Absolutely unacceptable.”

She added, “The foot still falls on a non-upgraded defender in a reckless action that they even considered? Totally disrespectful.”

This isn’t White’s first run-in with officiating issues; previously, she has criticized referees for being “disrespectful” after contentious calls, especially in a game against the Liberty. A month later, after another game riddled with techs, she again pointed out the lack of improvement from the referees.

This time, her defense of her star players seemed more fervent than before.

“Because they were that bad,” White explained regarding her heightened frustration. “I mean, punching someone in the throat is just crazy. It’s dangerous. When reviewing the landing spot, she still lands awkwardly. I mean, how do you keep failing this?”

“These repeated issues are frustrating, and honestly, this time felt worse,” she shared.

With this defeat, the Fever now have a record of 10 wins and 7 losses, and the mounting frustration this season has been palpable. Despite their struggle to rack up wins, they’ve set a record for the most losses in the league when scoring 100 or more points.

Unfortunately, during moments like Wednesday’s game, it feels as though the actual game gets overshadowed. For White, that was simply too much to bear.