Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese didn’t need long to reignite their bitter rivalry after going at it on the court during a fiery WNBA season opener.
Tempers flared between the two women’s basketball superstars when Reese took exception to Clark’s hard foul with 4:38 left in the third quarter as the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky got their 2025 campaigns up and running.
After Reese grabbed an offensive rebound, Clark slapped the Sky forward across the arm, knocking the ball away and her arch-nemesis to the floor.
Angel, who was visibly furious, quickly jumped up and confronted Caitlin as Fever center Aliyah Boston jumped in between the two players.
Following a replay review, the referees upgraded the foul to a flagrant one and called double technical fouls on Boston and Reese. It was Clark’s third personal foul.
During an in-game interview with ESPN, the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year said there was ‘nothing malicious’ about the foul and called it a ‘basketball play.’
Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese went at it in a fiery moment during their WNBA season opener
‘It´s just a good take foul,’ Clark said. ‘You know, either Angel gets a wide open two points, or we send them to the free-throw line.
‘Nothing malicious about it. It’s just a good take foul. Every basketball player knows that.’
When Reese missed the first of two throws, Gainbridge Fieldhouse erupted in cheers. she made the second, though, and Chicago added a layup on the ensuing possession to cut the deficit to 56-45.
Clark had 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and a career-high tying three blocks in the first half. Reese had seven points and nine rebounds through the first two quarters.
In the end it was Caitlin and the Fever who had the last laugh as they cruised past the Sky 93-58 to open their account in style.
It goes down as the largest opening win in franchise history for Indiana.
Clark recorded her third career triple-double in the victory after putting up a game-high 20 points, along with 10 rebounds and as many assists.
Reese, meanwhile, recorded 17 rebounds, 12 points and an assist as Chicago slumped to an opening-day defeat.
