There's a new chapter in the individual rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
Tensions rose in the season opener between Clark's Fever and Reese's Sky as Clark committed a hard foul that drew a heated reaction from Reese. The two needed to be separated as Reese took exception to the contact.
Here's what happened in the opener.
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Caitlin Clark Flagrant 1 foul on Angel Reese
Midway through the third quarter, Reese pushed off on Fever forward Natasha Howard to pull down an offensive rebound. Clark, seemingly upset with the contact not being called for a foul, extended her arms and shoved Reese to the ground as she gathered for a putback layup.
Reese quickly jumped up to approach Clark but was held back by Indiana's other post player, Aliyah Boston.
Caitlin Clark received a flagrant foul on this play.
— ESPN (@espn) May 17, 2025
Aliyah Boston and Angel Reese received offsetting technical fouls. pic.twitter.com/jzQYEW92TW
It appears that Reese asked Clark, "What the f— is wrong with you?" as she approached her before being held back. Clark turned her back and walked away with her hands up as the tensions rose.
Clark's foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 1 for unnecessary contact, and Boston and Reese were each assessed technical fouls for their roles in the incident.
After the third quarter, Clark was asked about the fall but she said, "It's just a good take foul. Either Angel gets wide open two points, or we send them to the free throw line. Nothing malicious about it."
Caitlin Clark on her foul on Angel Reese
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) May 17, 2025
"It's just a good take foul. Either Angel gets wide open 2 points or we send to the free throw line. Nothing malicious about it. It's just a good take foul every basketball player knows that"
(h/t @ohnohedidnt24)
pic.twitter.com/5EJWKsoKd1
Clark sang a similar tune after the game.
"Let's not make it anything that it's not," Clark told reporters. "It was just a good play on the basketball. I'm not sure what the refs saw to upgrade it. And that's up to their discretion after watching the initial — the whatever happened during the play and then whatever happened after.
"We watch a lot of basketball, you know, it's a take foul to put them at the free throw line. … I wasn't trying to do anything malicious, that's not the type of player I am, so it wasn't anything like that. And I went for the ball, it's clear as day in the replay. You watch it, you know, it shouldn't have been upgraded"
The foul itself will be subject to league review. If they agree with Clark's assertion that it should not have been upgraded, the flagrant could be taken away from Clark's record. For now, the Flagrant 1 stands.
This article will be updated