First Flagrant Foul.

[Hawks Coach]

We had a player that got hit in the head with forearms as a foul to stop the clock. She could not finish the game and was taken to the doctor the next day for the resultant concussion. It was called intentional, but the severity and clear excess force was such that I felt it clearly merited the flagrant.

It seems refs tend to only want to use the flagrant for fighting, but I think it needs to be used more broadly. There is a reason the foul exists, and it needs to be called when warranted. The player who is flagrantly fouled deserves that protection at a minimum, as do any other players who may have to deal with the offender in a future game.