Photo Credit: WNBA
In the closing minutes of Friday night's heated WNBA matchup between the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty. In the fourth quarter, Liberty star Angel Reese was assessed a flagrant foul after making significant contact with Aces guard Caitlin Clark on a drive to the basket.
The play occurred with 5:42 remaining and the Aces clinging to a 72-70 lead. As Clark aggressively took the ball hard to the rim, Reese went up to contest the shot but her follow-through struck Clark squarely in the face.
"I wouldn't say it was an intentional hit at all," Reese said after the game. "She was making one of her typical hard drives, and I just went up to try and get a piece of the ball. Unfortunately, I did catch a little bit too much of her head in the process."
The referees immediately huddled and reviewed the play before deeming it a Flagrant 1 foul on Reese for "excessive contact" against the offensive player. Clark remained down for a couple of minutes before slowly making her way to the free throw line.
"Plays like that are just bound to happen when you have two ultra-competitive teams going at it," said Clark, who calmly sank both free throws to tie the game at 72. "Angel and I have had some epic battles over the years, so I know she wasn't trying to hurt me out there."
Aces head coach Becky Hammon commented: "You never like to see one of your players take a shot to the head area like that. But at the same time, I know there was no malicious intent behind it from Angel. It was just two players going extremely hard."
According to WNBA rules, a Flagrant 1 personal foul results in two free throws for the offended player as well as possession of the ball after the foul shots. It also counts toward a player's personal foul total and can lead to ejection after two flagrant fouls.
The play seemed to energize both teams down the stretch, as they continued to trade blows in an intense fourth quarter. Reese battled foul trouble before eventually fouling out with just under two minutes left.
"It's always physical whenever we match up against Caitlin and the Aces," said Reese. "I may have gotten a little overzealous going for that block, but it was just me playing my usual hard-nosed style out there."
Clark finished with 29 points, while Reese had 22 points and 9 rebounds in the Liberty's 88-86 loss. Both players downplayed any lingering animosity after the final buzzer.
"We've been going at it since college, so there's a healthy respect there even when things get chippy," Clark stated. "Angel knows I have just as much fight in me as she does."
Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello added: "Those are just two fierce competitors making plays out there. You're going to get some physicality when you have that level of intensity and talent going at each other."
While the officials deemed it worthy of a flagrant foul, all parties involved seem to agree that the fourth quarter incident between Reese and Clark was an unintentional byproduct of their physical, competitive styles of play. As two of the WNBA's biggest young stars continue their rivalry, emotions and hard fouls are simply part of the territory.
