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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark absorbed a closed fist to the throat from Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas during a second-quarter scramble Wednesday — contact the WNBA retroactively classified as a "non-basketball act," levying a Flagrant-2 penalty and a one-game suspension the following day.
No foul was called in real time, and Indiana lost 111-109.
The hit caps a three-season pattern of hard contact, missed live whistles, and a widening debate over officiating standards that has followed Clark since her WNBA debut in 2024.
The Thomas Incident: A Fist, a Suspension, and a Delayed Response In the second quarter against Phoenix, Thomas appeared to knee Clark in the groin before pressing a closed fist into her throat as Clark fell, then stepped over her to rejoin the play.
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