Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White was just fined three weeks ago for criticizing officials, but that didn’t stop her from calling them out again on Tuesday night.
Things got testy between Stephanie White’s Fever and visiting Connecticut Sun on Tuesday night, with Sophie Cunningham getting ejected for a foul on Jacy Sheldon. This appeared to be retaliation for Sheldon’s foul against Caitlin Clark, and the scuffle led to Lindsay Allen of the Sun also getting ejected:
The Fever and Sun got into it again.
— The Athletic WBB (@TheAthleticWBB) June 18, 2025
Sophie Cunningham took exception to Jacy Sheldon's foul on Caitlin Clark, leading to shoving and another altercation.
Cunningham, Sheldon and Lindsay Allen were ejected from the game.
🎥 @NBATV | H/T @nosyone4pic.twitter.com/aXUS8kBzpl https://t.co/EOjIsf6J77
Here’s the part of the game where tensions truly boiled over, with Marina Mabrey delivering an unnecessary hit from behind on Clark after the latter drew a foul from Sheldon:
Things were HEATED between the Sun and Fever tonight 😳
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 18, 2025
-Caitlin Clark T'd up
-Marina Mabrey T'd up
-Jacy Sheldon assessed flagrant
-Sophie Cunningham ejected pic.twitter.com/CUnso6z4a9
After the game, Stephanie White wasted no time ripping on the officials, per Damian Burchardt of The Mirror U.S.:
I think it was pretty obvious that stuff was brewing, right? When the officials don’t get control of the ball game, when they allow that stuff to happen – and it’s been happening all season long, all season long, it’s not just this game, it’s been happening all season long – this is what happens, right? This is what happens.
You’ve got competitive women who are the best in the world at what they do, right? And when you allow them to play physical, and you allow these things to happen, they’re gonna compete, and they’re gonna have their teammates’ backs…
It’s exactly what you expect out of fierce competition. So I started talking to the officials in the first quarter, and we knew this was gonna happen. You could tell it was gonna happen. So they gotta get control of it, they gotta be better. They gotta be better…
I mean, bad officiating is bad officiating.”
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"I think it's a league-wide issue. Bad officiating is bad officiating."
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 18, 2025
Stephanie White didn't hold back on the officiating in Sun-Fever 👀 pic.twitter.com/c9NpyhEplm
Stephanie White starts the press conference by saying she’ll take all questions related to officiating, then goes on an impassioned diatribe about the officiating: pic.twitter.com/qFQM7Cfkyg
— Chloe Peterson (@chloepeterson67) June 18, 2025
Since Clark turned pro last year, the league has faced immense criticism for the number of obvious and missed foul calls by opposing defenders against the Indiana star. Sheldon was issued a foul on Clark, but it took a ton of commotion for the officials to drop the hammer and eject some players.
At any rate, Stephanie White and the Fever got the last laugh by cruising to an 88-71 win over the Sun. The victory moved Indiana back above .500 (6-5), and they’re catching the momentum at the right time with victories in four of their last five.
Stephanie White Was Fined After The May 24 Loss To New York Liberty
White was critical of the officials after the Fever fell to the New York Liberty on May 24, the game where Clark suffered a quad strain that wound up sidelining her for five games. White told reporters four days later that she was fined, though the exact amount wasn’t disclosed.
