4 hours ago 1

Stephanie White Under Fire For Caitlin Clark Move in Fever's Loss to Dream

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever got off to a hot start to the 2025 WNBA season, defeating the Chicago Sky in the regular season opener.

But the Fever, now led by coach Stephanie White, couldn't remain undefeated, falling to Rhyne Howard and the Atlanta Dream 91-90 on Tuesday night.

With 21 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Aliyah Boston gave the Fever a one-point lead after making 1-of-2 free throws. But while she was at the charity strike, White elected to sub Clark out for DeWanna Bonner, opting for a defensive strategy as Atlanta got the ball back.

This led to another Fever All-Star guard, Kelsey Mitchell, being on the floor for the final defensive possession. With nine seconds remaining, Mitchell fouled Howard as the Dream guard was shooting, sinking both free throws to help Atlanta secure a one-point win.

Following Indiana's first loss of the season, WNBA fans were not happy with White's defensive strategy in the final seconds, subbing out Clark instead of Mitchell. They took to social media to call the coach out.

"Stephanie White gotta take blame too you take out Clark for defense and leave in Kelsey Mitchell? lol and then she commits the game losing foul wtf kinda plan was that," one fan said.

"Sending Caitlin Clark to the bench for defense instead of Kelsey Mitchell is certainly a choice," wrote another.

"can’t make ts up then we sub out CC on defense but left kelsey mitchell in the game ????? like idk," posted a third.

"...WHY WAS KELSEY MITCHELL ON THE FLOOR FOR DEFENSE? I MAKE BETTER DECISIONS ON 2K. THE (EXPLETIVE)," exclaimed a fourth.

"Kelsey Mitchell should’ve been subbed out for defense instead of Caitlin," claimed a fifth.

"Yeah they coach be doing some sus (expletive) (expletive) talkin bout for defense just for Mitchell to foul her match up," added a sixth.