The Chicago Sky dropped their second meeting of the season at the hands of the Indiana Fever, 91-83, to give the Fever and Caitlin Clark their fifth win of the season and a 2-0 lead in their head-to-head matchup. Sky forward Angel Reese has entered unfamiliar territory with a losing record, as well as getting the short end of the.
At the 2:53 mark of the third quarter, Reese was called for a flagrant foul for catching Clark's head on the help side defense while attempting to block her shot. The game's referees deemed Reese's play as excessive, but not unnecessary.
Angel Reese hits at referees affecting the game vs Fever
In the post-game press conference, Angel Reese did not hide her frustration for how the game's officiating affected the play. She maintained that her foul on Caitlin Clark was a basketball play and did not merit a flagrant foul.
“It's a basketball play. I can't control the refs, they affected the game…a lot tonight,” Reese said.
Reese hinted there might have been whistles favoring the Fever and, to a certain extent, Clark. However, she commended teammate Kamilla Cardoso for her play in a losing effort.
“I think we were playing really hard. I think we went out really strong a lot of times, and we didn’t get a lot of calls and…looking at the film, I've seen a lot of calls that weren't made. I guess some people got a special whistle, but just being able to play hard as best as we can,” Reese added.
“I'm still proud of Kamilla [Cardoso] going on still getting a double-double. That's something they're not going to be able to stop regardless of the referees, like we're here for a while. We're not going to be denied, no matter what you guys can try to do. Our goal is to win and we're going to do whatever it takes to win and continue to do that.”
Reese finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists in the loss. Cardoso tallied 10 points, 10 rebounds, with two assists.
Reese in unfamiliar territory with losing start in rookie year with Sky
With the Sky dropping to 4-9, Angel Reese is venturing into unfamiliar territory after coming from a winning culture at LSU. But she said she is looking at herself to get better and get on the winning track.
“I'm not used to losing like this. But either I'm going to be mad and sad about it or I'mma get up and…look at myself in the mirror and figure out what can I do better before the next game.”
Meanwhile, Reese treated this matchup against the Fever and Caitlin Clark as another game. This comes amid the hype of pitting two of the top rookies of the 2024 draft class against each other.
“It's another basketball game, I guess a lot of hype around the game of course, but we're kind of honestly just here to play ball,” added Reese.
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