Caitlin Clark reacts to controversial ending in Liberty loss, Stephanie White calls out refs

Caitlin Clark was unable to get a shot off at the end of regulation as the Indiana Fever fell to the New York Liberty 90-88 inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday. Clark, who was guarded tightly by Liberty guard Natasha Cloud, appeared to be upset after no foul was called on the play.

As the buzzer sounded, Clark threw her hands up and began to walk toward the official to state her case. Her pleas were ignored and the Fever dropped to 2-2 on the young season. Indiana’s head coach Stephanie White, who is now four games into her second tenure after departing from the Connecticut Sun, was not happy with the officiating postgame.

The Liberty remain undefeated!

Indiana doesn't get a shot off as time expires pic.twitter.com/RGbv3OPt6X

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) May 24, 2025

“It’s disappointing that it doesn’t go both ways or hasn’t gone both ways,” White said as she began her postgame comments. “But we also can’t allow that to consume us. We’ve got to be able to play through that and we’ve got to be able to control the things we control.”

Calls go against the Fever down closing stretch

White’s frustration didn’t just stem from just one play, as a trio of close calls went in favor of New York down the closing stretch of the game. Veteran Fever forward DeWanna Bonner was seemingly fouled on a shot attempt by the Liberty’s Natasha Cloud but no foul was called, Fever guard Lexie Hull was called for a questionable foul against New York’s star guard Sabrina Ionescu (which led to game-winning free throws) and Clark had the ball stripped from her on a bang-bang play to end the game.

“There’s a system to making sure we can send [potential officiating mistakes] in and communicate our grievances, so to speak,” an upset White said. “I don’t know that I ever feel like the system works. We’re not looking for a change, we’re just looking for consistency.”

In the loss, Clark contributed 18 points on just 6-18 shooting but did not touch on the officiating postgame. In fact, she had not even seen a replay of the play yet.

“I’d have to go back and watch,” Clark said. “I don’t know,” she responded when asked if she was fouled. Frustration seems to be boiling up a bit for the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year, who is now 2-16 from three-point range over her past two games.

Following Saturday’s disappointing loss, Indiana falls to 2-2 on the season. The Fever will be back in action on May 28 when it travels to Washington for a clash with the Mystics.