More Tension;As Caitlin Clark backhands rival player….

Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark silenced the “rivalry” discourse between herself and Chicago Sky first-year player Angel Reese ahead of Sunday’s rubber match this season between the two WNBA teams, saying she’s had enough of the supposed animosity narrative. Clark scored 17 points and dished out a franchise-record 17 assists during the Fever’s 88-87 setback, the second time this season the two franchises battled to a one-point finish with the former Iowa and LSU women’s basketball stars as the catalysts.

“I’m pretty sure the only people that view this as a rivalry is all of you,” Clark succinctly told a reporter before the game. “Like, to us it’s just a game of basketball.”

Reese, who scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down 16 rebounds, has revealed similar thoughts recently, saying the rivalry is merely a media creation and believes the ferocity shown between the two players is simply due to competition.

“For me, I don’t think people realize it’s not personal,” Reese said. “I think people just take it like we hate each other. Me and Caitlin Clark don’t hate each other. I want everybody to understand that. It’s just a super competitive game. I just wish people would realize that. Once I get between those lines, there’s no friends. … We’re not buddies. I’m going to talk trash to you. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get in your head the whole entire game, but after the game we can kick it. I don’t think people really realize that.”

Clark previously said she regrets how her on-court battles with Reese became a distraction during consecutive deep runs to the national championship game, and how it took away from stellar seasons for Lisa Bluder’s teams the past couple of years prior to both players becoming first-round WNBA Draft picks.

The 2022-23 women’s basketball season ended with a heated confrontation between Reese and Clark near the end of the national championship game, the first of consecutive losses by Iowa in the final game. Both players said there was no ill-will prior to this season’s long-awaited rematch showdown in the Elite Eight that drew record viewership, but it remained a major storyline.

“That’s the only thing people wanted to talk about when we just went on this magical run and united so many people, and that, like, was frustrating to me,” Clark said in one episode of ESPN’s docuseries “Full Court Press.”

Earlier this season, Reese committed a flagrant foul against Clark that quickly became a talking point for several days in the aftermath. Reese downplayed the foul and the WNBA’s No. 1 overall pick echoed those sentiments and brushed off a play that left her on the floor after a layup attempt.

Reese tried to swipe at Clark’s hand, but missed the ball and made contact with her opponent’s head. Reese was whistled for a common foul before the play was reviewed and upgraded to a flagrant.