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Officials provide explanation for technical foul called on Caitlin Clark vs. LSU
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Referee Lisa Jones, who worked the national championship game between Iowa and LSU Sunday, was asked why a technical foul was assessed to Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark in the middle of Iowa’s comeback bid.
The Hawkeyes had cut a 20-point lead down to single digits when Clark was called for her 4th foul for tossing aside the ball following a dead ball. It’s pretty obvious that no malicious intent was behind the toss, as you can see below:
Caitlin Clark received a technical for this moment.
Do you agree? pic.twitter.com/yjxeDDTFU7
— ESPN (@espn) April 2, 2023
Jones explained the reasoning behind the call following the game. Here’s her explanation:
Postgame comment from referee Lisa Jones, asked by pool reporter about the technical foul called on Caitlin Clark: pic.twitter.com/UfymUfIPvO
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) April 2, 2023
Whew.
The right call or the wrong one?
A few things can be true at the same time here. One, LSU played a nearly flawless offensive game and Iowa could not stop anyone. If Jasmine Carson is giving you 22 points, it’s just not your night. However, that was a crucial foul call and killed all momentum that Iowa had in that moment. Would it have changed the game? Probably. Would Iowa have won if this was called differently? Likely not.
It is, however, an extremely poor explanation. If this was truly the case, tehre would be 50 technical calls a game. In that scenario, that foul simply cannot be called.
Ethan Stone was an editor for his student newspaper at the University of Tennessee and is now a News Manager for Saturday Tradition.