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The head coach on the losing side of the WNBA Finals found no issue faulting officiating for the outcome after a call at the end of regulation time had her asserting, “This sh*t was stolen from us!”

(Video Credit: WNBA)

Concluding a chaotic season for women’s hoops that saw rookie phenom Caitlin Clark routinely targeted by opposing players, the finals came down to a deciding Game 5 between the four-time champion Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty. While the latter went on to take home their first franchise victory in overtime, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve blasted officials over the call that led to the deciding extension in play.

“And I know all the headlines will be, ‘Reeve cries foul.’ Bring it on. Bring it on. Because this sh*t was stolen from us. Bring it on,” she said during the postgame press conference.

As it happened, with seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter and the Lynx up 60-58, a foul was called on power forward Alanna Smith against forward Breanna Stewart who missed a buzzer-beating shot.

Stewart made up for it with the free throws that tied up the game and sent it to overtime instead of Minnesota going home with their fifth championship.

Continuing to rail against the officials, while acknowledging that her team could have still played better, Reeve told the press, “Well, we talked about it, you know. We know we could have done some things right: but you shouldn’t have to overcome to that extent. This sh*t ain’t that hard. Officiating, it’s not that hard. When someone is being held, be consistent. If you don’t want to call holding on one end, then don’t call it on the other. Be consistent.”

“Every team asks for that, right? [Liberty coach Sandy Brondello] asked for that last game. Three of the games in the series, we’re talking about the same damn thing!” she added, pointing out it had been an ongoing issue. “So, I tell these guys, you know, for whatever reason, it didn’t work out, right? It just doesn’t feel right that you lose a series with that level of discrepancy.”

“And we don’t have a team that whines and complains and, you know, all that stuff and, you know, sometimes it probably hurts us. Maybe being a little more — I don’t know — something; but, I mean, I just think that [when] you have a star player like [Lynx forward Naphessa Collier] I just — I just don’t get it. I don’t get how she can be held and go to the basket and get hit; and then a marginal at best — at best — sends their best player to the free throw line,” said Reeve. “That’s, I mean, that’s just, that’s tough.”

Further compounding the coach’s belief that the outcome had been stolen, many zeroed in on Brondello telling Stewart before the play to “embellish it” if she did get fouled, while others called out WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert for wearing a dress depicting the New York City skyline as she presented the trophy while the league stated, “The trophy is right where it belongs for the 2024 WNBA CHAMPS.”

Kevin Haggerty
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