The WNBA has launched an investigation after Breanna Stewart accused officials of wrongly informing the New York Liberty that they had no timeouts left on the final play of overtime in Game 2 of their semifinal series against the Atlanta Dream. Stewart said referees told the Liberty they had no reset timeout remaining with just seconds left, a claim denied by crew chief Fatou Cissoko-Stephens in the official pool report.
Stewart spoke to reporters ahead of Game 3 on Friday and expressed her frustration. “You want to have respect between players and refs, and players and the league, and all these things. In order to have respect, you need to build trust. And building trust comes from being honest,” she said. “And putting me in a position to question my integrity is really disappointing. I know who I am and what I stand for and what I heard. That’s that.”
The incident unfolded with 4.3 seconds remaining in overtime. Angel Reese had just sunk two free throws to give the Dream a three-point lead. The Liberty, who had forced overtime with a clever play to Marine Fauthoux, apparently had a reset timeout available but did not use it. Instead, they attempted a long pass to Marine Johannès near midcourt. The ball was tipped, eventually landing in Stewart’s hands, but her final shot missed badly.
At first, it seemed Liberty coach Chris DeMarco had made a tactical error by not calling the timeout. Stewart clarified the situation in the postgame press conference. “This is not blaming the refs, but when I ask both refs if we have a reset timeout and they tell us ‘no,’ and then we leave the game with a reset timeout, it’s pretty frustrating,” she said. Stewart added she asked official Kevin Fahy if the Liberty had a reset timeout. Fahy said he would check with his partner, Fatou Cissoko-Stephens, who said “no,” and then Fahy confirmed that to Stewart.
DeMarco shared a similar view. “They just said we didn’t have it. Yeah, multiple staff members. It is what it is. We gotta demand more, but it is what it is,” he said.
The pool report from Cissoko-Stephens contradicts Stewart’s account. It states that Stewart was behind Fahy when he confirmed with Cissoko-Stephens between Reese’s penalty free throws that the Liberty did indeed have a reset timeout remaining. Cissoko-Stephens said there was “no direct communication” between the officials and the Liberty, disputing Stewart’s version.
The WNBA’s rulebook confirms that the Liberty had a reset timeout available. They had already used two timeouts in overtime, one to challenge a foul on Fauthoux and another to draw up a play, but the reset timeout should have been usable with 4.3 seconds remaining. According to Cissoko-Stephens, the Liberty should have been allowed to use it.
Despite the confusion over the timeout, Stewart acknowledged the Liberty had other chances to win. Allisha Gray missed the game due to injury, and Rhyne Howard shot 5 for 20. The Liberty led by three points with under two minutes remaining in overtime. On their penultimate possession, Sabrina Ionescu threw an errant pass into the crowd. Stewart said even with a reset timeout, the Liberty would likely have only forced a second overtime.
The Liberty now trail the Dream 2-0 in the best-of-five series. No WNBA team has ever overturned a 2-0 deficit in the playoffs. Game 3 takes place on Friday at the Liberty’s home court. The WNBA has not announced a timeline for its investigation into the timeout dispute.
According to CBS.
