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Caitlin Clark Sarcastically Applauds Officials in Fever’s Controversial Loss to Dream

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Joseph Varghese | Last updated Sep 15, 2025 10:05 AM ET

Despite Caitlin Clark not leading her team, the Indiana Fever managed to reach the playoffs for the 2nd straight season. They did that on sheer will as their star point guard was among 5 players with season-ending injuries.

First, it was her back-to-back soft-tissue injuries that stopped Clark from flourishing in her 2nd season in the WNBA. Then, both her backup point guards ended their season in the same game.

Soon, Sophie Cunningham joined the medical room after tearing the ACL in her right knee. Despite these setbacks, the star point guard was working to return to play this season.

That is, until a few games remained in the regular season, and it became apparent that the Iowa native had not recovered enough. Rather than risking it all, she decided to release a statement confirming she had packed up her season.

Along with Chloe Bibby’s knee injury, the Fever had five players out for the season. Despite that, they made it to the playoffs, and due to favorable results elsewhere, ended up 6th in the standings.

To start their playoff journey, the Fever traveled to Atlanta, where they would take on the third-placed Dream. The gulf in roster quality would make it difficult for the away side to win the series.

But at least they wanted to fight and see how far they could go. Throughout the game, Caitlin Clark cheered on her teammates. She also started to argue with officials.

aliyah called for her 5th foul and caitlin smiling sarcastically at these refs lmfao pic.twitter.com/TlfckeCxtF
— correlation (@nosyone4) September 14, 2025

At one point, the 23-year-old started to give up and sarcastically smiled at the officials after some controversial calls went against her teammates.

Caitlin Clark’s head coach flames officials

During the game, those officiating mistakes seemed to slow any momentum the Indiana Fever were building up. Head coach Stephanie White was seen lashing out at the officials quite a few times.

On one occasion, she was arguing with the officials when they called a foul on Lexie Hull after she unknowingly bumped into a Dream player.

At this moment, Caitlin Clark stepped in and was pulling White back to the bench as officials could assess her a technical foul for encroaching onto the court. After the game, reporters asked the 48-year-old coach what led to the Fever struggling late in both halves.

The fouls. We get momentum, there are 4, 5 foul calls in a row, and they get some opportunities. It stopped the flow of the game. It didn’t allow us to get up and down in transition.
Stephanie White said

Indiana Fever:
Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Hull & Stephanie White – Postgame Media Availability at Atlanta

Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Hull & head coach Stephanie White speak with the media following a 80-68 loss against the Dream on Sunday afternoon.

0:00 – Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Hull &… pic.twitter.com/UaNzqKFwGz
— Caitlin Clark News (@22CCnews) September 15, 2025

The Fever coach added that they needed their rhythm to counter the Atlanta Dream’s runs. Those fouls stopped any chance of the away team gaining enough momentum to stay in the game and ended up losing with a score of 68-80.

Caitlin Clark’s Fever will need home fans’ help to even series

When Caitlin Clark led the Indiana Fever to the playoffs for the 1st time in 8 years, they ended up facing a strong Connecticut Sun team in the 1st round.

Another problem was that the 1st two games of the three-game series were in Connecticut, giving the Fever a disadvantage when it comes to playing in front of their home crowd.

The league has rectified that for this season, changing the format to allow both competing teams to get a taste of playing at home. That is what the Fever should hope will help them even the series.

They will need the energy from their passionate fans to push them towards a win. Only then can they use the momentum to fight for a place in the 2nd round.

Clark will be courtside, ready to cheer her teammates as well as argue with officials whose calls she does not agree with. Game 2 tips off on September 16th at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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