Fever's Caitlin Clark out vs. Liberty with right groin injury
The Fever are 5-5 without Clark this season and sit at 12-10 in the final game before the WNBA All-Star break.
Clark, a first-team All-WNBA selection last year, is slated to start in Saturday's All-Star game. As a team captain, she selected the players who will suit up for her team. She and Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, the other captain, received the highest amount of fan votes in the All-Star balloting.
Clark is also slated to participate in the 3-point contest on Friday. She is averaging 16.5 points, 8.8 assists, and five rebounds in 13 games this season.
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The eye poke on Clark drew a flagrant foul on Connecticut's Jacy Sheldon, while Clark and two Connecticut players got technical fouls for the ensuing fracas. In the last minute, Sheldon drove into Indiana's Sophie Cunningham, who pulled Sheldon down onto the floor. Cunningham could argue that Sheldon initiated the contact by lowering her shoulder and charging into her like a running back or rugby player, and that she accidentally pulled down Sheldon while stumbling backwards. But she and the Fever have embraced the notion that Cunningham filled the role of an NHL enforcer, protecting their star player when the refs wouldn't. Cunningham's jersey sales went through the roof, and entrepreneurs are selling commemorative T-shirts in her honor. Maybe the WNBA has found a new source of revenue? WNBA refs are paid far less than their NBA counterparts, so no one should be surprised if the men's league attracts more experienced referees. 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