Just four games into the season, Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White is already fed up with the officiating. After a narrow loss to the New York Liberty on Saturday, White expressed her frustration with the “disrespect” that Indiana has received from referees so far this year.
The Liberty took the lead in Saturday’s the 90-88 win off two free throws from Sabrina Ionescu, after Lexie Hull was called for a late foul. Then, New York sealed the deal when veteran guard Natasha Cloud got a steal on Caitlin Clark in the final seconds of the game — a strip that White and the Fever thought should have been a foul.
“I thought she got fouled. I think it’s pretty egregious what’s been happening to us the last few games,” White said in a postgame press conference. “And I might be able to understand it if we were just chuckin’ threes, but we’re not. We’re attacking the rim. And the disrespect right now for our team has been pretty unbelievable.”
White admitted that there were other issues in the Fever’s final quarter: The team didn’t take advantage of some opportunities with Boston, she said, and had some costly turnovers. But even with her frustration, she said that Indiana needs to find ways to win in spite of the officiating.
“It’s disappointing, that it doesn’t go both ways or that it hasn’t gone both ways, but we also can’t allow that to consume us. We’ve gotta be able to play through that, we’ve gotta be able to control the things that we can control,” White said.
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In the first four games of the year, the Fever have been called for 84 fouls, the second-highest in the WNBA. But they have also drawn 82 fouls, which puts them at No. 3 in the league — though not all teams have played the same number of games so far this year, which complicates the numbers.
Still, White feels that Indiana has been on the short end of the stick when it comes to refereeing.
“There’s a system to making sure that we can send stuff in and communicate our grievances, so to speak. I don’t know that I ever feel like the system works,” White said. “We’re not looking for a change, we’re just looking for consistency.”
White’s strong words may come back around: The WNBA does fine coaches and players for disparaging officiating.
Until then, White will have to turn to the Fever’s next few games: an away matchup against the Washington Mystics on Wednesday, and another home game on Friday against the Connecticut Sun.