Fri Jun 20 02:10:00 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a news article summarizing the situation around Caitlin Clark and the physicality of WNBA play, based on the provided text:

**Headline: Former Coach Urges WNBA to Call More Fouls Amid Clark Controversy**

**Indianapolis, IN –** The debate over the physicality of WNBA play, particularly surrounding Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark, continues to intensify, with one of Clark’s former coaches now calling for significant changes in officiating.

Following a tense Tuesday night game between the Fever and the Connecticut Sun that saw Clark shoved to the ground after a series of physical altercations, Lisa Bluder, who coached Clark at Iowa, believes the league needs to emphasize freedom of movement and call more fouls.

“I think there needs to be more freedom of movement in our game,” Bluder told TMZ. “Which means, yes, calling more fouls, which people don’t like, but people will adjust. The players will adjust. If we start calling more fouls and emphasize the rules, the players will adjust, because they want to be on the floor.”

The incident on Tuesday started when Clark was poked in the eye by Sun guard Jacy Sheldon. The two players then got physical after the whistle, leading to a shove from Clark and intervention from Sun players Tina Charles and Marina Mabrey, who shoved Clark to the ground. Clark, Charles, and Mabrey all received technical fouls, while Sheldon received a Flagrant 1 foul, and was later ejected. Mabrey’s foul was later upgraded to a flagrant 2, and she was fined.

Fever Head Coach Stephanie White criticized the officiating after the game, saying the officials did not take control of the tense game. “When the officials don’t get control of the ballgame, when they allow stuff to happen, and it’s been happening all season long … this is what happens,” White said.

Bluder emphasized that she doesn’t think Clark is being “targeted,” but that teams are playing more physically against her as a defensive strategy. The conversation around Clark and the WNBA’s physical play is expected to continue as the season progresses, and whether the league and its officials will adapt to address concerns about physicality remains to be seen.

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