NEW YORK — The WNBA has suspended the Phoenix Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas for one game after she made contact with her fist to Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark’s throat in Wednesday night’s game.
It happened with 6:52 left in the second quarter and was deemed to be a non-basketball act. The league gave Thomas a flagrant foul 2 penalty for it. No foul was called on the play by officials.
The WNBA is allowed to review a game to reclassify a flagrant foul or to classify as flagrant any foul not called as such during a game.
Thomas will serve her suspension Saturday when the Mercury visit the Toronto Tempo.
“It was egregious. The fact that it was a no-call … You’ve got to call it,” Fever coach Stephanie White said after the game. “You’re coming in here aware of what happened two nights ago and that (expletive) still happens? Absolutely unacceptable.”
The Fever renewed their call for player safety in a statement Thursday.
“Player safety should be paramount in our league,” team President Kelly Krauskopf said in a statement. “We appreciate the WNBA’s review of last night’s incident and the action taken. Right now our focus is on Caitlin and our entire team as we prepare for Saturday.”
The Fever host the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday night.
This isn’t the first time the league has upgraded a foul against Clark. Last season Marina Mabrey, when she was with the Connecticut Sun, received a technical foul in a game against the Fever. The league later upgraded it to a flagrant 2. Over the years the NBA has had a few instances in which the league upgraded a play that resulted in a suspension.
The two teams also played Monday night and there were six technical fouls called and one ejection. Clark picked up her fifth technical of the season in that game. The team petitioned the league to have it rescinded, but the WNBA confirmed that the technical will stand.
The physical play carried over to Wednesday’s game, which the Mercury won 111-109.
Clark left the game in the third quarter as she was dealing with a back issue. She appeared to tweak her back in the second quarter when she was fouled shooting a 3-pointer. She fell to the ground and was rubbing her back as she stood up.
In the first quarter she went back to the tunnel and returned to the bench wearing a wrap around her back.
She finished with 19 points and eight assists in 20 minutes.
