The Indiana Fever suffered a tough defeat at home Saturday to the defending champion New York Liberty. Fever superstar Caitlin Clark couldn't believe the referees didn't blow their whistle on multiple last-second scoring opportunities for Indiana, including her three-point attempt with 2.2 seconds left which could have given the Fever the win. Instead, Liberty guard Natasha Cloud's on-ball pressure resulted in a steal and New York escaping with a 90–88 victory.
Clark and her Fever teammates were shocked Cloud wasn't whistled for a foul, just as they were on their previous offensive possession when DeWanna Bonner went down with contact after Cloud came up with a big block.
Fever win the jump ball, but Bonner goes down with contact - no foul called. Tied at 88. pic.twitter.com/R2ooorYFHq
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) May 24, 2025
Fever guard Lexie Hull was called for a foul on Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu with 2.2 seconds left, which brought Ionescu to the free-throw line for her to sink two foul shots. They proved to be the final points of the game.
Following the final buzzer, some fans wondered why Fever coach Stephanie White didn't use a coach's challenge on the decisive foul called on Hull. Indiana had a second challenge after they were successful on their first, which was used in the third quarter. In the WNBA, teams are awarded a second coach's challenge if their first is successful.
There was an issue, though. White couldn't use the second challenge in the final moments because the Fever didn't have a timeout. According to Richard Cohen of Her Hoop Stats, teams need a timeout to be able to initiate a challenge. Indiana used a reset timeout after Ionescu's free throws, which advances the ball and allows for substitutions but no huddle like a traditional timeout. The reset timeout doesn't give a coach the ability to initiate a challenge, making the challenge unavailable for the Fever to use on any key plays in the game's final moments.
The loss dropped the Fever to 2–2 early in the 2025 season. They have a chance to bounce back Wednesday when they travel to play the Washington Mystics.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fever Weren’t Allowed to Challenge Key Foul Calls Late in Loss for Simple Reason.
