WNBA fans are not happy with referees who failed to call a foul that would have put Caitlin Clark at the free throw line.
The first overall draft pick led the Indiana Fever to their third straight victory on Wednesday night as they defeated the Washington Mystic 88-81.
However, at one point after the match, fans were left scratching their heads after a seemingly obvious foul was missed by the officials.
Clark, who finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and four steals, was about to attempt a layup when the Mystic’s Stefanie Dolson knocked the ball out of her hands.
“How is this not a violation for Caitlin Clark???” a fan captioned a clip of the incident on X.
Caitlin Clark was trying to make a layup when Stefanie Dolson knocked the ball out of her hands
“Look at this #wnba, your performance is a joke,” chimed in another.
“As a new spectator to the @WNBA, it appears they have a serious refereeing problem. I think even @WWE references would have noticed this one,” a third viewer joked.
‘Severely missed call from WNBA officials; this happens too often, to many players,” wrote another, while someone else echoed the sentiment: “The performance in wnba is terrible, actually it sucks.”
Clark and the Fever were hit hard by critics after the team lost its first five games of the season, but the Iowa alum criticized those who demanded “instant gratification.”
“No one came in here and said we were going to be WNBA champions from day one in our locker room,” Clark said after the game on Wednesday.
‘That has never been our goal. Our goal was to get back to the play-offs and we fight for that every night. This is the first time since 2015 that we have won four home games in a row,” she added.
‘You have to have perspective on things, and that also applies to life. Like having a perspective on life. And there just needs to be a solid perspective on what this team can achieve.”
“We had the hardest schedule to start. We haven’t had much practice and we’re playing with the most inexperienced team in the WNBA. So I think this group is starting to click and build some chemistry and take it one day at a time.”
It’s been a rocky start for the WNBA superstar, whose rival Angel Reese committed a flagrant foul against her as the Fever took on the Sky last week.
Reese missed a block and hit Clark in the head as she lunged for the basket, prompting the LSU alum to claim the Fever had been given a “special whistle.”
WNBA fans were not happy with referees failing to call a seemingly obvious foul
Clark finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in the Fever’s 88-81 victory
However, the duo’s fierce rivalry has pushed the WNBA’s viewership to unprecedented heights.
The Fever’s 91-83 win over the Sky on Sunday was the competition’s most watched match in more than two decades.
The highly anticipated matchup averaged 2.25 million viewers, a 225% increase over an average match last season.
Viewership peaked at 3 million households, making the showdown the most watched game in 23 years.