Fever's Caitlin Clark in pain after taking blow to the face vs. Aces (PO)

Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark has been lucky to avoid major injuries this season. However, the all-time NCAA scoring leader has taken plenty of hard contact in her first WNBA season, and that didn’t change against the Las Vegas Aces Wednesday night.

Clark was down in pain after taking a shot to the jaw from Young while jumping for a rebound.

Jackie Young inadvertently popped Caitlin Clark in the jaw with an elbow on this play.

The refs ruled it as a common foul after the review.

Good call or bad call? 🤔pic.twitter.com/Wy7pjveCMH

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 12, 2024

Young didn’t see Clark coming behind her and accidentally struck her face while jumping for the board. The officials ruled it as a common foul.

The Aces took home the 86-75 win, with superstar A’ja Wilson becoming the WNBA’s all-time single-season scoring leader. The Fever have beaten every other team besides Las Vegas this year, and they’ll have another chance to do it at home on Friday.

The Fever still aren’t on the Aces’ level

Team WNBA guard Caitlin Clark drives against Team USA guard Kelsey Plum during the WNBA All-Star Game at Footprint Center in Phoenix on July 20, 2024.
While the Fever have had a bounce-back season led by Clark and Aaliyah Boston, they’ve had trouble against the experience and physicality of the Aces. Clark showed her mortality on Wednesday, scoring 16 points on 6-of-22 shooting, including 1-of-10 from deep.

The officiating, however, was controversial, with fans accusing the referees of favoring Las Vegas. The biggest play in question was when Clark got called for an offensive foul against Las Vegas guard Chelsea Gray, which spoiled Indiana’s comeback attempt, via Barstool’s Dave Portnoy.

Caitlin Clark has had a rare off night but in what world is this an offensive foul? #FeverRising pic.twitter.com/ivFYZEb3h4

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 12, 2024

Clark was irate and was held back by her teammates to avoid a technical foul.

Meanwhile, Wilson scored 27 points with 12 boards on her record-setting night. The future Hall-of-Famer continues to dominate the competition, and her experience has more than prepared her for a deep playoff run this year.

Indiana will need to shoot better from deep to win Friday’s rematch, as it sported an unsavory 26.9% mark, while Las Vegas shot 45.5%.