Caitlin Clark says flagrant foul for shoving Angel Reese was not 'malicious'

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese agreed on one thing Saturday: Their minor dustup during the season opener was just the result of a basketball play.

Aside from that, Clark did most of the talking.

She downplayed the on-court fracas that occurred with 4:38 left in the third quarter, which spurred Indiana to a 93-58 victory over the Chicago Sky. It started with Reese grabbing an offensive rebound and Clark slapping Reese's arm hard enough to jar the ball loose and knock Reese to floor.

When Reese got up, she tried to confront Clark before Indiana center Aliyah Boston stepped in between the two players. Clark's third personal foul was upgraded to a flagrant 1 while Boston and Reese each drew technical fouls following a replay review by the referees.

“Let's not make it something that it's not,” Clark said after posting the third triple-double of her career. “It was just a good play on the basketball. I'm not sure what the ref saw to upgrade it, and that's up to their discretion. It's a take foul to put them at the free-throw line. I've watched a lot of basketball in my life, that's exactly what it was. I wasn't trying to do anything malicious. That's not the type of player I am.”

Still, it's hard to ignore the obvious — that the fray added another chapter to the rivalry that has captivated women's basketball. It dates to their college days, when Reese helped lead LSU to a 102-85 victory over Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes for the 2022-23 national championship. Clark won the rematch in the spring of 2024, a game that drew 12.3 million television viewers.

Less than eight weeks later, they were squaring off in the WNBA in the first of four matchups. The Fever took three of those contests, many featuring hard fouls. In the end Clark helped Indiana make the playoffs and the Sky came up short as Reese missed the final two weeks of games with a season-ending wrist injury.

Now this.

Reese's analysis of what happened?

“A basketball play,” she said without elaborating after scoring 12 points and grabbing 17 rebounds.

When a follow-up question was asked later in the interview, a team spokesman cut her off, saying Reese had already answered the question. And when new coach Tyler Marsh was asked about his thoughts, he paused before repeating Reese's answer.

Indiana had a little more to say after Clark finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and a career-high four blocks.

“Nobody's going to get anything easy against us,” new Fever coach Stephanie White said. “We're going to be a tough defensive team. I thought it was a clear play on the ball as well. One of the points of emphasis is we can't give up. But I thought it was a clear play on the ball.”

Crew chief Roy Gulbeyan disagreed.

“The foul on Clark met the criteria for flagrant foul 1, for wind up, impact, and follow through for the extension of the left hand to Reese’s back, which is deemed not a legitimate basketball play, and therefore deemed unnecessary contact,” he said. “After the foul, there is a physical taunt technical on Boston and a verbal technical on Reese, which offset.”

Boston may have been the most surprised, not even realizing she had been called for the technical until after the game. She reacted by putting her hands on her face, looking surprised and asking if she really had drawn the technical.

But the calls clearly changed the game.

After Reese missed the first of two throws, Gainbridge Fieldhouse erupted in cheers. Reese made the second and Chicago added a layup on the ensuing possession to close to 56-45.

Then the Fever closed the third quarter with nine straight points to extend the margin by 20 and never let Chicago get closer than 18 the rest of the way as they matched the second-largest victory margin in franchise history.

“I went for the ball, clear as day in the replay,” Clark said. “You watch it, you know it shouldn't have been upgraded. Again that's up to the refs' discretion, but I appreciate A.B. having my back.”

This story has been corrected to show that Boston and Reese got double technical fouls, not Clark and Reese.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, left, fouls Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, center, during the second half an WNBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts after being called for a flagrant foul on Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese during the second half an WNBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Chicago Sky's Angel Reese poses for a portrait during the WNBA basketball team's media day at Intentional Sports on the West Side, Monday, May 12, 2025, in Chicago. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) shoots around Chicago Sky center Kamilla Cardoso (10) during the first half of an WNBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City Council employee detained in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is an asylum-seeker from Venezuela, according to a court petition seeking his release.

Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez was arrested Monday at a scheduled immigration check-in, enraging city leaders and drawing protesters Tuesday to the Manhattan federal building where he is being held.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Rubio Bohorquez had long overstayed a tourist visa, had once been arrested for assault and “had no legal right to be in the United States.”

City Council Speaker Julie Menin disputed that, telling reporters that Rubio Bohorquez, a data analyst for the city legislative body, was legally authorized to work in the U.S. until October.

Menin, a Democrat, said the council employee signed a document as part of his employment confirming that he had never been arrested and cleared the standard background check conducted for all applicants.

The court petition, reviewed Tuesday by The Associated Press, said Rubio Bohorquez — identified in the document as R.A.R.B. — had always been seeking asylum and was arrested at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum office in Bethpage, on Long Island.

Menin called it a regular check-in that “quickly went awry.”

The document, known as a petition for writ of habeas corpus, said Rubio Bohorquez has no criminal record — no arrests, charges or convictions. A hearing on the petition is scheduled for Friday.

ICE confirmed Rubio Bohorquez’s name. Menin said she wanted to protect his identity and referred to him only as a council employee.

“We are doing everything we can to secure his immediate release,” Menin told reporters Monday. She decried the arrest as “egregious government overreach.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat, said he was “outraged” by what he called “an assault on our democracy, on our city, and our values.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul referenced Rubio Bohorquez’s arrest in her state of the state speech on Tuesday, asking: “Is this person really one of the baddest of the bad? Is this person really a threat?”

“I will do whatever it takes to protect New Yorkers from criminals, but people of all political beliefs are saying the same thing about what we’ve seen lately: Enough is enough,” said Hochul, a Democrat.

Menin said officials were attempting to reach Rubio Bohorquez’s family and obtain contact information for his immigration lawyer.

The nonprofit New York Legal Assistance Group filed the habeas petition on Rubio Bohorquez’s behalf. The organization’s president and CEO, Lisa Rivera, said it represents dozens of people who have been wrongfully detained by ICE and hundreds who are following immigration procedures in hopes of staying in the U.S.

“This staffer, who chose to work for the city and contribute his expertise to the community, did everything right by appearing at a scheduled interview, and yet ICE unlawfully detained him,” Rivera said in a statement.

According to ICE, Rubio Bohorquez entered the U.S. in 2017 on a B2 tourist visa and was required to leave the country by Oct. 22, 2017. He has been employed by the City Council for about a year, Menin said. His position pays about $129,315 per year, according to city payroll data.

“He had no work authorization,” ICE said in a statement confirming Rubio Bohorquez’s arrest. The agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, said that under Secretary Kristi Noem “criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States. If you come to our country illegally and break our law, we will find you and we will arrest you.”

Several dozen people protested Tuesday outside the Greater New York Federal Building, where Rubio Bohorquez was being held. Some carried signs that said “Abolish ICE” and “No Human Is Illegal.”'

Venezuela, whose former President Nicolás Maduro was seized Jan. 3 by U.S. forces, has been roiled for years by violence and economic instability. Nearly 8 million people have fled the South American nation since 2014, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

Last year, President Donald Trump's administration ended Temporary Protected Status that had been allowing hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan refugees to live and work in the U.S. without fear of deportation. It wasn't clear from court papers whether Rubio Bohorquez had been a part of that program.

Disputes over an immigrant’s work authorization have arisen before, in part because many employers rely on E-Verify. The system compares information provided by employees with records available to the government but doesn’t automatically notify an employer if an employee’s right to work is later revoked.

Matthew Malloy, Executive Board Member with the Association of Legislative Employees, speaks during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Alexa Avilés, New York City Council member, speaks during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Chi Ossé, New York City Council member, speaks during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Carlos Calzadilla, President of Brooklyn Young Democrats, speaks during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

People raise signs during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)