Stephanie White highlights Caitlin Clark’s foul trouble as one of the biggest issues in the Indiana Fever’s loss to the Portland Fire.
For White, not having Caitlin Clark on the floor for the majority of the game against the Fire was a massive disadvantage.
Portland handed Indiana its fourth loss of the season after a 100-84 victory in front of the home fans at the Moda Center.
White admitted that Clark’s foul trouble proved costly for her rotation because she doesn’t have her floor general.
"Yeah, it's tough,” White stated during her post-game interview. “I mean, it's tough when you have your primary ball handlers in foul trouble.
“It affects your ability, number one, for them to be on the floor, and number two, I thought Portland did a really good job of attacking the matchups they wanted,” White said.
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Clark’s limited minutes mirrored her lackluster output in the loss. The two-time All-Star finished with six points, two rebounds and six assists in 22 minutes.
White further expounded on the Fire’s effective game plan, which ultimately became the difference-maker.
“That created foul trouble," White said of Portland's schemes. "That created rotations. It created opportunities for them to run free for offensive rebounds as well because we were in rotations.
“Then obviously, when you've got players in foul trouble, you've got to weigh the risk of leaving them out there.”
Now that their two-game road trip has been snapped, White and the Fever are looking to return to the win column on Thursday.
They are set to face Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream in their first WNBA Commissioner’s Cup game of the season on their home court at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
