Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark gave Julie Vanloo a push after the whistle and engaged in some trash talk with the Washington Mystics veteran guard on Wednesday

Caitlin Clark shoved Julie Vanloo three times in a row in the second quarter of Wednesday’s WNBA game between the Indiana Fever and Washington Mystics. After the third time, Vanloo threw her arms up in frustration and the pair exchanged words.

Vanloo, a veteran out of Belgium, was guarding Clark on the perimeter when the situation occurred, with the Mystics holding a double-digit lead at the time. No technical fouls were assessed, and Clark seemed to suggest afterward that Vanloo flopped. Clark’s teammate, Katie Lou Samuelson, then appeared to try to calm down her first-year WNBA teammate.

Washington, which won Wednesday’s game 89-84m signed Vanloo, 31, to a training camp contract ahead of the 2024 WNBA season. She made the regular-season roster, and since then, she’s grown into a significant role, shooting nearly six 3-pointers per contest on a young squad.

Clark has been involved in several incidents this campaign, elevating the tension of some of her games. Early in the season, Clark and Seattle Storm star Victoria Vivians received double technicals for a brief spat. Clark was also flagrantly fouled twice by the Chicago Sky.

In college, Clark infuriated Indiana University fans with an apparent push-off on Hoosiers player Lexus Bargesser. Adding to the frustration, referees tagged Bargesser with a foul in that situation, which occurred in a similar area of the court as Wednesday’s moment.

Last fall, Purdue Fort Wayne accused Clark of a “two-hand push.” Referees punished Clark for aggressively creating space from Erin Woodson during Iowa’s blowout win.

“I’ve seen it on film already,” said Purdue Fort Wayne head coach Maria Marchesano afterward. “It was a two-hand push. The refs told us it was a judgment call on their part, and they decided on an intentional (foul). I’ll just leave it at that.”

The Mystics entered Wednesday knowing they’d need to toughen up against Clark. They struggled to cover the sharpshooter in their previous meeting, with the Iowa product scoring 30 points in a narrow Fever victory last month.

While Clark didn’t shoot efficiently in the first half Wednesday, contributing to the Fever’s deficit, she did rack up seven assists in the opening 20 minutes. And the guard got going down the stretch, finishing with 29 points and 13 assists.

Caitlin Clark and Julie Vanloo had a tense back-and-forth ( 
Image:
Getty Images)
Clark remains a frontrunner for Rookie of the Year, her only competition for the award being Sky forward Angel Reese.

“She just wants to win,” Fever head coach Christie Sides said recently. “To me, she’s going to be my Rookie of the Year every day.

“She is the most competitive human being I’ve ever met. Really compare her to Diana Taurasi. She’s always looking to find ways to get better. ‘How can I help the team? What can we do?’”