WNBA

Caitlin Clark gets chippy with Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard in another tense moment

Caitlin Clark and Rhyne Howard got caught up in the heat of the game late in the first quarter of the Fever’s 81-76 win over the Dream on Thursday

Clark and Howard shoved into one another before exchanging words at center court, before teammates rushed in between the two, with cooler heads eventually prevailing. 

Howard picked up a foul while attempting to guard Clark, which irritated the 20204 WNBA Rookie of the year, who shoved her shoulder into Howard’s body, leading to the extracurriculars. 

Caitlin Clark reacts as she draws a foul from Rhyne Howard during the Fever’s 81-76 road win over the Dream on May 22, 2025. Getty Images

The TV in the direction of Howard, “I’m not scared of you.” 

Howard did attempt to argue to a referee that there should be a call going the other way, but officials did not hand out any fouls related to the brief interaction. 

The Fever took the game and ended up getting a bit of revenge after the Dream won on Tuesday night, 91-90. 

Clark did not play particularly well on Thursday night, finishing with 11 points and missing all five of her 3-point attempts, marking the first time she hasn’t hit a 3 in a game since her college days at Iowa.

Rhyne Howard reacts after being charged with a foul against Caitlin Clark
during the first quarter of the Fever’s win over the Dream. Getty Images

She was last held without a trey back on Jan. 13, 2022, against Purdue when she was a sophomore. 

Natasha Howard scored a game-high 26 points for the Fever in the win. 

Thursday’s game was moved to State Farm Arena, the home of the Hawks, and it was announced that the game was a sellout. 

An animated Caitlin Clark continued talking to Rhyne Howard after the two players were separated.

Clark and the Fever will travel to the Big Apple this weekend to play the Liberty at Barclays Center on Saturday afternoon. 

It’s unclear if Clark will try and sneak in an appearance at Madison Square Garden on Friday night when the Pacers and Knicks play Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. 

on Thursday that she was enjoying the Pacers’ playoff run and had stayed up to watch their dramatic comeback in Game 1 on Wednesday night. 

Connor McCaffery, Clark’s boyfriend and an assistant at Butler, previously worked in the Pacers’ basketball development department.