The New York Liberty suffered a 101-98 overtime loss to the Atlanta Dream after a mismanaged final possession, in which Breanna Stewart believed her team had no reset timeouts left. After inbounding the ball under their basket with 4.3 seconds remaining on the clock, the Liberty quickly advanced the ball up the court rather than using a timeout. Stewart launched a desperation shot from well beyond the 3-point line to try to tie the game, but it fell short.
They're now down 0-2, and one game away from being eliminated from this year's WNBA Playoffs. After the loss, Stewart called out the overtime officiating, questioning the timeout situation. "This is not blaming the refs, but when I ask both refs if we have a reset timeout at the end, and they tell us no, and then we leave the game with the reset timeout, it's pretty frustrating," Stewart said postgame, per ESPN.
More news: WNBA Legend Reveals Caitlin Clark’s Blunt Message Amid Fever Playoff Game The referees clarified their side of the matter, issuing a statement that disputed Stewart's claim about the timeout situation involving referee Kevin Fahy. "Stewart was standing behind referee Fahy when he confirmed with his partner between Reese's penalty FTs that the Liberty did indeed have a reset TO remaining," officials said postgame, per Annie Costabile. Per WNBA rules, teams receive two timeouts and a reset timeout in overtime.
With that reset timeout, teams are able to advance the ball up the court without having to huddle on the sideline. According to ESPN, citing sources, the Liberty filed an official inquiry with the WNBA regarding the disputed timeout. Stewart finished Wednesday night's loss with 35 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists, while teammate Jonquel Jones scored 21 points to go with eight rebounds.
The Liberty shot 55% compared to 40% for the Dream and still lost in overtime. Angel Reese and Jordin Canada each scored 23 points for the Dream, in a game where all their starters finished in double digits. Aside from the late-game timeout controversy, New York's 16 turnovers also proved costly in their latest loss.
That said, the overtime situation feels like it could've been handled much better, so it should be interesting to see if the Liberty's inquiry into the matter turns up a conclusive answer. New York is now facing an 0-2 deficit, but returns to their home court for Game 3 on Friday night to try to stave off elimination. More news: Colts Owner Addresses Backlash Regarding Her Presence on Team’s Sidelines For more about the WNBA, head over to Newsweek Sports.
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