WNBA Finals update: the New York Liberty took an 80-77 win over the Minnesota Lynx. While this looks promising for the Liberty, breaking the tie, Minnesota’s head coach Cheryl Reeve, isn’t all convinced of the fair officiating. After taking a second look at the game, the 4× WNBA Coach of the Year picked what went wrong during those crucial 40 minutes.

In the post-game conference, Reeve called out the officials for a biased decision against Lynx star player Napheesa Collier. “She got fouled. She was asserting herself in that way. The game’s called differently for Phee than it is for Stewie, for sure… for whatever reason, we have a hard time getting to the foul line in this series.”

The Liberty were called for 13 fouls today to the Lynx’s 18. The Defensive Player of the Year would pick 3 herself; one each in the latter three quarters — bringing her finals series total to 12. One of them against Breanna Stewart even led the game to overtime in game 1. “Wish I wouldn’t have fouled,” Phee had admitted, further adding, “you are just thinking about making sure they don’t get the rebound, making sure that we are boxing out.” 

Though they ended up on the winning side eventually, Reeve isn’t a fan of the 49-42 difference that has come to be between the two teams this series. However, she had asserted after the first win that the team has ‘to be mentally tough, look inward, and not blame other people.’ So as the Liberty takes the lead, that is what the Lynx would look to focus on.

Napheese Collier & Co. fall short of Liberty duo

Looking at the fierce showdown, Sabrina Ionescu emerged as the star of the game, as she threw the tie-breaker 3-point shot with only a second left in regulation of the final quarter. She had possession so she dribbled the ball around before pulling up her winning move and hit a 28-feet to break the 77-77 tie. Her performance would get applauded by their Minnesota opponent, Kayla McBride who said, “Great player made a good shot. I guarded her for 40 minutes.” 

But Stewart would prove to really carry the team. Finishing with 30 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double, Stewart scored 22 of the Liberty’s 45 points in the second half. As a result, Ionescu credited this win to the Liberty’s front-runner. “We don’t win this game without Stewie. There’s nothing I can say,” the guard admitted.

Though 4 of Lynx’s starters posted double-digit games, it wouldn’t prove enough in the final minutes. Trailed 73-69 with 2:26 left in the final quarter, the Liberty pushed eight points including the first five from Jonquel Jones.

Collier finished with 22 points and 9 rebounds; second-game-high, behind Stewart. Now, Game 4 awaits for the Liberty in Minnesota on Friday.