UConn’s Geno Auriemma says Fever’s Caitlin Clark being ‘targeted’

UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma said that although WNBA rookies must go through “the growing pains of being a professional basketball player,” he thinks the Indiana Fever‘s Caitlin Clark has been “targeted” with physical play.

“Is she facing the rookie challenge, the rookie hardships that are inherent with being a rookie? Yes,” Auriemma told reporters in Connecticut before the UConn Coaches Road Show on Tuesday. “She’s also being targeted.”

Clark was shoulder-checked from behind by Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter before the ball was inbounded during Saturday’s game. Clark was knocked down in what was a non-basketball play and was initially ruled a common foul, but it was upgraded to a flagrant foul 1 by the WNBA upon review Sunday.

After the game, Carter refused to answer questions, which Auriemma called “junior high stuff.”