New York Liberty coach Sandy Brondello hit out at the officials following her team's 82-80 loss to the Minnesota Lynx in Game 4 of the 2024 WNBA Finals on Friday night. Heading into a winner-take-all Game 5 back in Brooklyn on Sunday, Brondello pleaded with the refs to "just be fair."
"If [we] are getting hit, it's a bloody foul," Brondello said. "I know [Lynx coach] Cheryl [Reeve] talked about it last time, but we got no calls today. So do I need to talk up in a press conference? Because they were getting ticky-tacks. And we went down there and got hit and get nothing.
"All we want is fair, OK. So if we are getting hit, that's a foul. You know, I'm one of the nicest bloody coaches in this league, but this pisses me off. Just be fair."
The Liberty were called for 14 personal fouls, compared to nine for the Lynx, while the Lynx shot 20 free throws, including the game-winners by Bridget Carleton with two seconds remaining, and the Liberty had nine trips to the line.
As is the case every game, there were a number of questionable whistles. Perhaps the most consequential came late in the third quarter, when Breanna Stewart, who shot 5 of 21 in the game, was called for her fourth foul on what appeared to be marginal contact. The Liberty were up 61-57 at the time of the whistle, which sent Stewart to the bench for the rest of the third quarter. Heading into the fourth, the Lynx had taken a 64-63 lead.
Despite the discrepancy in the foul and free throw departments, the Liberty still had a chance to close out the series and win the first title in franchise history. They had multiple go-ahead opportunities late in the fourth quarter, including one with less than 20 seconds to play.
"In the end, close game. Things we could have done better. We all could have done better," Brondello said. "Including me, getting that f---ing timeout -- excuse me, don't repeat it."
The Liberty coach was adamant that she had tried to call a timeout after the Liberty got an offensive rebound with just over 30 seconds remaining, but the officials did not award it to her.
Following the Lynx's heartbreaking Game 3 loss on Sabrina Ionescu's last-second 3-pointer, Reeve complained about what she saw as a different set of rules for Napheesa Collier compared to Stewart.
"The game is called differently for Phee than it is for Stewie for sure," Reeve said. "You look at the same level of activity, and around-the-rim contact. For whatever reason, we have a hard time getting to the foul line in this series."
To what extent that influenced the way the game was called in Game 4 can never be known. It will be interesting to see if Brondello's comments have a similar impact in Game 5.