The WNBA has upgraded the technical foul on the Connecticut Sun’s Marina Mabrey for shoving Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark to the court during Tuesday’s night game to a Flagrant-2, a person familiar with the situation said Wednesday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made.
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Any flagrant foul comes with an automatic fine. The person also said the league has fined the Fever’s Sophie Cunningham for her role in the on-court melee that occurred after she fouled Jacy Sheldon with 46.1 seconds left. Cunningham received a Flagrant-2 on Tuesday night.
There will be no further penalties for on-court actions during the game, the person said. The WNBA doesn’t disclose the amount of the fines.
The play at the end of the game was the culmination of tension that had been building throughout.
Mabrey’s technical followed a skirmish in the third quarter. Sheldon poked Clark in the eye while defending her. Clark pushed Sheldon away and Mabrey forcefully pushed Clark, knocking the guard to the ground. Clark and Tina Charles also were assessed technical fouls.
In a pool report, official Ashley Gloss said the contact Mabrey made didn’t rise to the level of an ejection or meet the criteria for a Flagrant-2.
After the game, both teams said missed calls and poor game management by the officials led to the melee at the end.
Fever coach Stephanie White said “bad officiating” is a leaguewide issue and that “everybody (in the WNBA) is getting better, except the officials.”
“I started talking to the officials in the first quarter, and we knew this was going to happen,” White said. “You could tell it was going to happen. They’ve got to get control of it. They’ve got to be better.”