Caitlin Clark picked up her third technical foul of her fledgling WNBA career on Thursday as the Indiana Fever suffered their eighth loss of the season.

Midway through the second quarter of Indiana’s game against the Seattle Storm at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Clark hit a long three-pointer over Storm guard Victoria Vivians.

The pair collided as they ran back down the court, exchanging words as they came face-to-face before Fever center Aliyah Boston separated them.

Both Clark and Vivians were both given technical fouls.

In the WNBA, players are suspended for one game if they pick up seven technical fouls in one season. Following that, they will be suspended for a game for every other technical they receive.

Indiana would go onto lose 103-88 to Seattle, with 22-year-old Clark scoring 20 points, as well as providing nine assists and three rebounds.

Clark shoots the ball during the fourth quarter against the Storm. - Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Clark shoots the ball during the fourth quarter against the Storm. – Andy Lyons/Getty Images
“We’re spending too much time talking to the officials,” Fever coach Christie Sides, who also received a technical foul during the game after complaining about a decision that didn’t go her team’s way, told reporters.

“We’ve got to leave that alone. We’ve got to just play our game and let them do their job and not put it in their hands to make decisions that ultimately hurt us. We don’t want — we shouldn’t get technicals. Let me get the technicals. Let me go after the officials.”

Storms’ Jewell Loyd scored a game-high 32 points as the Fever fell to 1-8 on the season.

Defensive woes

Thursday’s loss continues the Fever’s torrid beginning to the 2024 season as the organization’s recent struggles persist. The team has not had a winning record since 2015 and has failed to win more than 10 games in a season on five occasions during that span.

The Fever do have a roster full of young, promising players, but it’s defensive rating of 112.6 through its first nine games this season is the worst in the league.

That defensive weakness has been apparent for a number of years – since 2017, Indiana has the worst or second worst defense in the WNBA in every season.

“The third quarter was when we lost the game,” Clark said afterwards. “I just thought our defensive rotations were bad … It’s not really about our offense. It was our defense. You’re not going to win a basketball game giving up 103.”

The Fever has two games in the next three days, playing the Chicago Sky on Saturday and then the New York Liberty on Sunday in Brooklyn.