The New York Liberty are staring down an impossible 0-2 hole in their semifinal series against the Atlanta Dream after a thrilling 101-98 overtime loss in Game 2, and Breanna Stewart is calling out the officials for a critical blunder that might have cost them the game. No team in WNBA history has ever come back from a 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five series, making this miscue potentially season-ending.
The Final Seconds: A Blunder, Then Stewart’s Bombshell
With just 4.3 seconds left in the extra frame, Angel Reese sank two clutch free throws, pushing the Dream’s lead to three points. The Liberty had the ball, and it seemed like they had hope, especially after Marine Fauthoux’s brilliant after-timeout 3-pointer sent the game to overtime earlier. They had a “reset timeout” in their back pocket, a crucial tool. But what happened next? Instead of calling that timeout, the Liberty tried a long pass to Marine Johannès near midcourt. It was tipped, landed somehow in Stewart’s hands, but her desperate heave at the buzzer was nowhere close. Initially, it looked like a major mistake by first-year head coach Chris DeMarco, a real head-scratcher.
But then Stewart dropped the bombshell in the postgame press conference. This wasn’t a coaching blunder. “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,” Stewart stated plainly. She clarified that DeMarco also checked with official Fatou Cissoko-Stephens, who confirmed, “no,” to the coach and then the team. The frustration? It’s palpable.
The Rules Are Clear: They Should’ve Had It
Let’s be crystal clear about the WNBA rulebook here, because the facts back Stewart up. In overtime periods, each team gets two team timeouts, with no restrictions on when to call them. On top of that, each team is entitled to one “Reset” in the final two minutes of the fourth period and one in the last two minutes of any overtime period. The Liberty had used their first overtime timeout with 4:05 left to challenge a foul on Fauthoux, a challenge that was upheld. Their second timeout was called with 21 seconds remaining to draw up a play that didn’t pan out. This means that, according to the rulebook, they absolutely should have had their reset timeout available. The officials’ incorrect information, if Stewart’s account is true, directly led to them not having a chance to draw up a clean, game-tying play.
Now, the Liberty are facing an uphill battle of historic proportions. Game 3 is next, and they’ve got to find a way to win. Because right now, this series feels like it’s hanging on a thread, and that thread might have been snipped by a bad call.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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