Caitlin Clark Thanks Ref for Firing Her Up with Technical Foul as Fever Beat Storm

Sunday was an excellent day for Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever.

So excellent, in fact, that even the guard's technical foul worked out well.

Clark was assessed the technical foul when she slapped the stanchion in frustration following a play, and she told reporters the whistle actually "fired me up to continue to play a lot harder. … So I want to thank him."

The additional motivation worked, as Clark finished with 23 points, nine assists and five rebounds in a 92-75 victory over the Seattle Storm. She was far from the only member of the Fever who impressed, as Kelsey Mitchell (27 points), Lexie Hull (22 points and 6-of-7 from three-point range) and Aliyah Boston (nine points, 15 rebounds and eight assists) also played well.

Indiana is now 2-0 after the Olympic break, and Clark appears to be fresher and playing with even more energy after her first extended time off since before last college basketball season when she was at Iowa.

She also broke Ticha Penicheiro's WNBA rookie record of 224 assists in a single season during the contest, further bolstering her case as the Rookie of the Year.

Indiana is now in seventh place in the WNBA standings at 13-15 but just 1.5 games behind the sixth-seeded Phoenix Mercury. If Clark is fired up from any more technical fouls in the future, the Fever may just continue to climb up the standings.