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Three players ejected after brawl during Fever-Sun clash
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- Three players ejected after brawl during Fever-Sun clash
The post Three players ejected after brawl during Fever-Sun clash appeared first on ClutchPoints .
Gainbridge Fieldhouse will be nice and warmed up for the Indiana Pacers ahead of Game 6 of the NBA Finals , as emotions reached a boiling point in Tuesday night's game between the Indiana Fever (6-5) and Connecticut Sun (2-9).
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Before the home team officially earned an 88-71 victory, fans witnessed a brawl transpire in the final minute of regulation. Following a heated exchange in the third quarter that saw Caitlin Clark incur a flagrant foul by Jacy Sheldon and a shove to the ground by Marina Mabrey , Fever's Sophie Cunningham ostensibly got some payback on her teammate's behalf.
With less than one minute left on the game clock, the seventh-year guard pulled Sheldon down to the ground by the neck area to thwart a drive to the basket. Players on both sides sprung into action immediately following the blatant foul. Cunningham and Sheldon went after each other in the scrum, as officials struggled to control the situation. Both women, along with Connecticut's Lindsay Allen , were ejected for the final seconds.
While it may not linger beyond this matchup, there was obviously bad blood brewing between these two teams. Clark, who finished with 20 points, six assists and two steals in her second game back from a quadriceps strain, verbally unloaded on Sheldon and the Sun after sinking a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. She did not take kindly to the eye-poke her opponent gave her in the third and displayed a fierce competitive fire for the remainder of the contest.
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One has to wonder if the officiating crew could have prevented the late-game fireworks from even occurring. The broadcast crew criticized the refs for not tossing Marina Mabrey after she knocked Caitlin Clark to the floor. If such a penalty was issued, perhaps Sophie Cunningham and Indiana would have cooled off a bit.
Officials will probably be extra mindful if a similar situation arises in the future.
Related: Fever hits franchise milestone after Caitlin Clark's big game vs. Sun
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