Aliyah Boston has never been known as a dirty player. That reputation is about to cost her anyway.
During Indiana’s 111-109 loss to the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday, Aliyah Boston caught Kahleah Copper in the face with an elbow late in the fourth quarter. The contact came with 2:12 left on the clock. Referees assessed Boston a Flagrant 1 foul, and the WNBA is now expected to follow that up with a $500 fine.
Boston finished the game with 23 points, nine rebounds, five assists and one steal. She was one of the few Fever players who showed up on a night when Indiana could not afford another setback. None of it was enough.
The elbow on Copper looked more like ball protection than intent. Boston appeared to be shielding a drive, not throwing a punch. But the referees read the contact as excessive, and the rules do not ask for intent. A Flagrant 1 carries one flagrant point under WNBA policy, and each flagrant point triggers a $500 fine. Copper stepped to the line after the call and made both free throws, giving Phoenix a four-point lead that Indiana could not close.
What makes the situation more serious is what sits at the other end of the scale. If Boston accumulates four flagrant points, she faces an automatic one-game suspension. A Flagrant 2 foul while sitting at three flagrant points would bring a two-game ban. She is at one flagrant point now, and she also carries one technical foul on the season. There is room, but the margin is clear. Aliyah Boston cannot afford another incident.
Boston was not the only Indiana player in a difficult spot Wednesday. Caitlin Clark left in the third quarter with a back injury and did not return. Clark has been on the injury report for most of the season with the same issue and aggravated it after drawing a shooting foul in the second quarter. She eventually went back to the locker room and stayed there. Clark finished with 19 points and eight assists in 20 minutes, then Indiana had to play out the fourth quarter without her.
Coach Stephanie White said the frustration was about more than the exit. In the second quarter, Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas appeared on video to strike Clark in the throat on a loose ball. No foul was called. White did not hide how she felt.
“It was egregious. The fact that it was a no-call… You got to call it. You’re coming in here aware of what happened two nights ago and that still happens? Absolutely unacceptable,” she said.
What Aliyah Boston’s Flagrant Foul Means For The Fever’s Injury-Hit Rotation
Clark is also managing a league review of her own. She picked up her fifth technical foul two nights earlier against the same Mercury team, and Indiana submitted a formal request to have it overturned. Clark was direct after that game.
“It’s ridiculous. I got a technical for clapping,” Clark said. “If any technical should be taken away, it should be that one. I don’t understand it at all.”
Eight technicals bring an automatic one-game suspension. If the appeal fails, Clark is at five. Every call now carries weight for the Fever.
Both Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark are leading WNBA All-Star fan voting, sitting first and second with 683,996 and 670,510 votes respectively. Fan voting closes Saturday. Indiana is 10-7 and third in the Eastern Conference. Keeping their two stars healthy, available and below the suspension threshold is now one of the most urgent concerns in the building.
