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Caitlin Clark won’t face suspension after WNBA rescinds technical foul

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Caitlin Clark picked up her eighth technical foul of the WNBA season on Saturday, Aug. 8 as the Indiana Fever defeated the Chicago Sky 90-86.

However, Clark will not be suspended as the technical foul has been rescinded, a person with direct knowledge of the situation in the league office told USA TODAY Sports.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the technical or the process involved in rescinding it.

Clark received the technical with 1:06 remaining in the third quarter of Saturday’s game in Chicago. While driving along the baseline, Clark seemingly lost handle of the ball after Chicago guard Natasha Cloud bumped her under the basket. Cloud wasn’t whistled for a foul, but the contact sent Clark out of bounds and she stumbled into a nearby official. The referee then issued Clark a technical for making contact with an official.

According to Fever head coach Stephanie White, officials said Clark “intentionally sought out the official and threw the forearm.” White called it a “really bad” call and said Clark’s contact was “incidental.”

“(The official) said I ran into her,” Clark said during her postgame interview. “I’ve already watched it on the tape, so we’ll let the league decide, but it wasn’t intentional or anything. So I’m hoping it’s getting rescinded.”

WNBA rules state that a player or coach is automatically suspended for one game after receiving their eighth technical foul during the regular season. Every technical after that comes with a $1,500 fine, and every other technical received during the regular season will result in an additional one-game suspension.

If the foul hadn’t been rescinded, Clark would have been sidelined for the Fever’s game on Tuesday, Aug. 11 against the New York Liberty. Instead, Clark — coming off a performance of 26 points and 11 assists against the Sky — will be on the court as the Fever aim to win back-to-back games.

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