The college rivalry between Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese caught fire again in the 2025 WNBA season opener, overshadowing the Indiana Fever’s decisive 93-58 victory over the Chicago Sky.

And the drama didn’t end on the court or at the final buzzer.

The series of events which continue to dominate post-game conversations—including Clark’s triple-double— unfolded late in the third quarter, with the Fever in control of the game.

Tempers began to flare as Chicago Sky’s Reese shoved Fever forward Natasha Howard in the back, leaving the former LSU star alone under the basket to corral the ensuing rebound. For a moment, play appeared to stop, but after no whistle was blown, Reese readied herself for what seemed to be an uncontested layup. However, Clark intervened with a hard foul which jarred the ball from Reese and sent her college rival to the floor:

Reese took issue with the severity of the foul, and sprang up to confront Clark. Fortunately, further extracurricular activities were avoided, as the pair were separated. With assistance from a teammate, Clark distanced herself from the situation as officials, players, and Chicago coaching staff pulled Reese off the court, preventing further escalation.

Reese remained heated during the ensuing official timeout—and put amateur lip-readers to work deciphering her off-color language as staff continued to hold her back on the team’s sideline.

The hero of the minor scuffle was surely Fever center Aliyah Boston, who kept her cool, anticipated Reese’s reaction, and quickly helped diffuse the situation before officials finally arrived. Boston stepped in between the pair, and preventing Reese’s attempt to engage with Clark—who had turned her back from the play—by forcefully pushing her own teammate from behind and away from the altercation.

Fittingly, Boston received a technical foul and a fine for her efforts.

After a lengthy review by the officiating team, crew chief Roy Gulbeyan upgraded the “common foul” he originally called on Caitlin Clark to a “Flagrant Foul Penalty 1,” which “is deemed not a legitimate basketball play.” Reese also received a “verbal technical” foul for her aggressive, profanity-ridden response.

However, Gulbeyan stated Reese’s technical foul was offset by a second technical by the Fever—and the technical foul was allegedly committed by Boston:

After the conclusion of the Fever’s opening-day victory, Gulbeyan—who, ironically, missed Reece’s original foul—received questions about the officiating decisions from Indy Star pool reporter Chloe Peterson. Peterson specifically inquired about the decision to upgrade Clark’s foul to a “Flagrant 1,” and also asked, “What did you see that led you to call a technical foul on Anger Reese and Aliyah Boston?”

The crew chief’s explanation for Clark’s foul was brief, but at least the question was answered. Gulbeyan didn’t fare as well with his second response: “There is a physical taunt technical on Boston and a verbal technical on Reese, which offset.”

With broadcast footage and countless viral replays showing no clear evidence of Boston’s alleged offense, this was the time for a detailed explanation. When presented with a direct question, refusing to provide a useful answer in a forum designed for this specific type of discourse was a clear missed opportunity—especially for a league striving for greater legitimacy and national attention.

As the WNBA’s popularity grows, players, fans, and media will continue to expect clearer answers and greater transparency than they were afforded on Saturday night.

When Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever and Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky meet again on June 7, the game will be must-see TV. But unless the WNBA directly addresses these issues and clarifies its stance on the controversies from Saturday’s matchup, attention will remain focused on the unresolved drama rather than the basketball itself.

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – A new feature at the State Historical Museum of Iowa in Des Moines debuted this weekend.

NaviLens launched on Saturday after two years of planning.

More than 500 codes are spread across the museum’s first floor. It’s designed to make exhibits more accessible for Iowans.

One version of the app is for those who have low vision or are blind.

It’s easy to use. The app is constantly scanning for codes

The idea of NaviLens started in Lindsay Keast’s kitchen when she saw a colorful code on a cereal box.

”I thought, why not bring that into a museum so that people can navigate the space?” said Keast, with the State Historical Museum of Iowa.

”I can sum that up just in one word, which would be independence. By having the NaviLens tags throughout the exhibits means that I can come to the historical society and go through an exhibit on my own,” said Bettina Dolinsek, State Historical Museum of Iowa Accessibility Consultant.

The app also includes descriptions of objects around the museum, things like stairs and elevators.

Museum staff hope to expand NaviLens to the entire space. It’s also a yearly subscription for the service and they’re already fundraising for those efforts.

Copyright 2025 KCRG. All rights reserved.

IOWA CITY — The Iowa baseball team closed out its regular season against Oregon with the Big Ten Conference championship at stake, its first taste of a season championship since 1990.

The Hawkeyes had dropped two of their first three games to the fifth-ranked Ducks in a three-game series. In Game 1, the Hawkeyes dropped a 10-0 shutout to the Ducks in seven innings on May 15. In Game 2, they lost 9-6 after they held a 6-2 lead through five innings on May 16.

Iowa had one final chance to be on the right side of history in Game 3. It was a three-way tie for first place in the Big Ten title race between Iowa, Oregon and UCLA entering the regular-season finale on May 17.

Ultimately, the Hawkeyes had its 35-year drought extended with a 13-4 home loss to the Ducks. Iowa fell to 21-9 in Big Ten play while Oregon improved to 22-8.

The Ducks clinched at least a share of the Big Ten crown with a win over the Hawkeyes. UCLA plays later in the afternoon against Northwestern and a Bruins win would give them a piece of the conference title.

“(Oregon) was locked in and had been playing their best baseball of the year the last 12-15 games,” said Iowa coach Rick Heller. “We knew the challenge and we knew exactly how we had to attack but we just gave them too much to have any chance of beating a team that good.”

Leadoff hitter Reese Moore got on base after he was hit by a pitch. He beat the catcher to steal second before a wild pitch put him at third base. A groundout by Caleb Wulf plated the Iowa sophomore to give the Hawkeyes an early 1-0 lead in the opening frame.

With Iowa right-hander Reece Beuter on the mound, Oregon’s Carter Garate blasted a homer that traveled 453 feet and cleared the right-field wall. Beuter, who entered with a 6-0 record, allowed a walk on the ensuing at-bat before a lineout ended his afternoon.

Through 2 ⅔ innings, Beuter faced 11 batters and gave up just one hit and one home run over 42 pitches.

Reminiscent of their loss on May 16, Iowa’s pitching became an Achilles heel and put them in a bind. Senior lefty Ben DeTaeye, who replaced Beuter, allowed Oregon’s Drew Smith to walk to first base before a sacrifice bunt and ensuing groundout put the Ducks in scoring position. DeTaeye walked Chase Meggers before he yielded an RBI double to Ryan Cooney that gave Oregon a 2-1 advantage. An ensuing bunt by Garate drove in a run and increased Iowa’s deficit, 3-1.

After Oregon’s Dominic Hellman walked to first, Jacob Walsh hit a double that sliced down the left field line with no outs in the fifth inning. Iowa righty Daniel Wright stepped in to pitch, but the Ducks managed to load the bases and put another run on the board. The senior Hawkeye faced a bases-loaded jam after he allowed a walk before a groundout drove in another score and made it a 4-1 game.

An ensuing walk reloaded the bases, but a double play by Iowa’s infield limited the damage.

“Pretty much the entire bullpen just gave it up today and I think we had eight or nine walks. You have no shot at beating that team if you’re going to walk nine guys,” Heller said. “We felt like we were going to have to score some runs, and we could today, but we didn’t early. We hit some balls and didn’t get rewarded and then we did some dumb stuff that cost us on the bases.”

The Hawkeyes (32-20-1) couldn’t string together runs, and the Ducks made them pay at the plate. Cooney cranked a solo homer in the sixth inning which prompted a change to junior righty Anthony Watts. But that didn’t matter. The Ducks plated two more runs with a Walsh homer that sailed past the right-field wall. The blast extended the gap, 8-1.

All the while, Oregon right-hander Jason Reitz limited Iowa’s offense. The junior righty, who boasted a 4-0 mark entering Game 3, earned four strikeouts and gave up just one run through 5 ⅔ innings of work.

Iowa’s Andy Nelson managed to narrow the deficit, 8-2, in the seventh frame with his sixth home run of the season, but the Ducks countered with a Hellman homer in the eighth inning.

The Hawkeyes managed to plate a pair of runs after loading the bases in the eighth frame, but Oregon secured a four-run stretch in the ninth inning. Iowa went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine runners on base.

“It hurts that we weren’t able to get it done, especially at home for our fans who really came out and supported us and disappointed they didn’t get to see us celebrate a championship,” Heller said. “But for this team to be where they’re at is pretty impressive and the great thing is it’s not the end. It feels like it now but it’s not the end of the season.

“We have a chance to regroup and hopefully find ourselves and get back to who we are and go down to Omaha (Nebraska) and try to play good baseball again.”

Iowa’s attention will now shift to the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha, which will begin on May 20.

Marc Ray is the high school sports reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He can be reached at MARay@gannett.com , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.