By Rory Carroll
INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) – Caitlin Clark’s growing comfort at the pro level was on full display Sunday as the rookie overcame a hard hit on the head from rival Angel Reese to lead the Indiana Fever to a thrilling 91-83 win over the visiting Chicago Sky.
Clark was going for a layup late in the third quarter with Indiana in front 63-62 when Reese swiped at the ball from behind, hitting Clark on the head and sending her crashing down to the hardwood.
After a review by the officials, Reese, a Louisiana State University standout who engaged in some memorable and heated battles with Clark and her Iowa Hawkeyes in college, was assessed a flagrant foul one.
“What’s going through my mind is I have to make these two free throws,” Clark told reporters when asked what she was thinking after the foul.
“It’s just part of basketball. It is what it is. She was trying to make a play on the ball and get the block.”
Clark made both of her free throws and finished the contest just shy of a triple double with 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for her best all-around game as a WNBA player.
“We’re competitors and that’s the way the game should be,” she said.
“It’s going to get a little feisty, it’s going to get a little physical but at the end of the day both teams are just trying to win.”
Bruising encounters with the Sky are becoming routine for Clark.
The 22-year-old was on the receiving end of a blindsided hit in the back from the Sky’s Chennedy Carter the last time the two teams met earlier this month.
The foul, which many considered a cheap shot, was called a regular foul during the game but upgraded to a flagrant one after the contests, which was also won by the Fever.
“I was really proud of how they all kept their composure,” Fever head coach Christie Sides said of her team after Reese’s flagrant foul.
“And the right call was made in that moment – flagrant one, two free throws and the ball. Just make the right call in those moments and we can move forward.”
Sides said she was impressed with how the league’s number one overall draft pick was adjusting to the game at its highest level as the Fever improved to 5-10 on the season.
“She took the shots that were hers and knocked them down,” she said.
“She distributed the basketball, she takes so much attention and she’s able to find those open looks for her team mates.
“She had a great game all around.”
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Indianapolis)
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