The Atlanta Dream and the Connecticut Sun locked horns on Thursday in hopes of building on their respective wins from their previous games. And while the Dream dominated this matchup to secure one of their largest wins of the season, winning 104-69, an incident involving Angel Reese, Aliyah Edwards, and Brittany Griner triggered serious debate.
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With just a little over three minutes left in the second quarter and the Dream leading by 16 points, Reese found herself under the opponent’s basket. But as she tried to get her shot off, Edwards was right behind her. Reese drew contact, and Brittany Griner blocked the shot, with a foul initially called on Edwards. As Edwards went down, Reese turned around in frustration and had a short but heated exchange with Griner, per The IX Sports’ Deyscha Smith.
The cameras also caught the Dream star making a gesture with her hand around her neck and animatedly gesturing and saying, “She grabbed my neck.” However, not every fan agreed with the call.
“How is this a flagrant on Edwards ??? And no tech for Angel must be nice,” one fan wrote under a clip of the incident shared by Underdog WNBA. “I’m sorry WHAT?? Flagrant 1 on the player who got headbutted!” another added.
With the foul upgraded, Angel Reese was sent to the free-throw line, where she missed both shots before turning the ball over. But as the clip of the incident circulated online, several fans pointed out that Reese appeared to hit Edwards in the chin first while attempting her shot, which prompted the Sun forward to go down. As Edwards fell, her stray hand then appeared to catch Reese around the neck.
Reese has a highly physical style of play, which has made her vulnerable to calls throughout her career. That is exactly why she currently sits atop the WNBA’s list for most technical fouls. Yet even though the officials saw the play differently, fans did not stop expressing their frustrations.
“Don’t think Edwards grabbed her neck until she was falling backwards and kind of grabbed on to what she could. At least from that angle,” another fan wrote. One added, “Angel missing her free throws and the fans going crazy 😭😭.”
Even though Angel Reese missed both free shots, the 24-year-old still finished with a team-high 15 rebounds and added four blocks. However, Thursday night was one of her lowest-scoring performances of the season, as she recorded just eight points in 28 minutes.
Meanwhile, Edwards dropped 15 points in 17 minutes and secured four rebounds. This was also her second Flagrant 1 foul of the season. That gives her two points under the WNBA’s flagrant foul point system, with each Flagrant 1 carrying one point. Each point comes with a $500 fine, and if Edwards reaches four points, she will receive a one-game suspension.
“I mean it’s a foul because she was reaching over her, but unless I missed something, she was stationary,” another fan added, offering a different perspective on the play.
In the end, the call stood, and Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream took the 104-69 win home, as they extended their winning streak to two games.
The Dream will next lock horns with the Indiana Fever, which will be one of the most anticipated games considering the long-standing rivalry between Reese and Caitlin Clark. So with just 11 games left until the playoffs, fans will be keeping their eyes firmly on both teams to see what comes next.