The league announced a fine for the rookie for skipping media obligations postgame ... dinging her $1,000 for not making herself available to reporters. They've also fined the Sky $5k.

Of course, Angel clearly applauded a cheap shot foul her teammate Chennedy Carter hit Clark with during the game Saturday, and some may have thought the league would reprimand her for that ... but, so far, that's not the case.

There's been tension between Angel and Caitlin in recent months, despite AR once assuring the public her beef with Clark existed only within the confines of the court. The loss to the Fever seemed to really upset Reese -- who makes just shy of $74k a year, not including endorsements -- and, she blew off reporters.

Just last month, Angel seemingly posted a dig at Caitlin online, writing her team pulled out an impressive win because of their squad cohesion rather than "one player on our charter flight."

Reese later deleted the tweet, but not before it went viral. Combined with the cheap shot cheering, this beef seems to be a bit more personal than Reese wants to admit.

BTW ... good news for outraged Fever fans. The league upgraded the nasty hit on Clark from a common foul to a flagrant 1 violation on Chennedy Carter. The league did not fine or suspend Carter.