The Atlanta Dream entered Wednesday night with a chance to take a commanding 2-0 lead over the New York Liberty in the semi-finals. But for much of the first half, the officials were the ones stealing the spotlight. With physicality becoming a major talking point early, a controversial call involving Angel Reese’s teammate, Rhyne Howard, quickly became the moment that had WNBA reporters and broadcasters questioning the officials.

With 4.5 seconds left before halftime, Sabrina Ionescu drove toward the free-throw line and rose for a jumper with Howard defending her. As Ionescu moved into her shot, the officials called the Dream guard for a shooting foul. The whistle was particularly costly for Atlanta because it was Howard’s fourth foul of the game, forcing one of the Dream’s most important players into serious foul trouble. So as the call started making rounds online, WNBA reporter Natalie Esquire did not hold back her reaction.

“What an awful call and Rhyne picks up her 4th foul just before the half,” she wrote on X.

The broadcasters were just as stunned when the replay was shown, questioning whether Howard had actually made enough contact to warrant the whistle.

“Atlanta does not have a challenge. They use one unsuccessfully in the first… Her hands are not on, her body’s not bodying,” the broadcast crew said while discussing the play.

The Dream already used their challenge earlier in the game, with head coach Karl Smesko challenging a call at the 2:13 mark of the first quarter. The challenge was unsuccessful, meaning Atlanta could not ask the officials to review another call. Under WNBA rules, a coach gets one challenge per game, with a successful challenge restoring another.

The call sent Ionescu to the free-throw line, although she missed both attempts. Still, the whistle became another example of a first half dominated by fouls rather than flow.

DeWanna Bonner was called for contact with Breanna Stewart at the 6:07 mark of the second quarter, and after Bonner disagreed with the decision, the Dream fans also made their feelings known as they immediately started chanting, “Ref, you suck.”

Angel Reese, too, picked up her third foul of the game with three minutes left in the second quarter. Yet Atlanta refused to let the officiating derail its night as Jordin Canada acknowledged the frustration at halftime and made it clear the Dream were not planning to change their approach.

“Yeah, we just got to adjust, but we still want to continue to be aggressive and be physical,” Canada said as per USA Today. “And we know it’s going to fall our way. We just have to keep doing us.”

And that mentality mattered as the game continued to turn into a battle. The two teams combined for 55 fouls, with Atlanta committing 24 and New York 31. That put the game just two fouls short of the WNBA record of 57 fouls in a single game. Still, the Dream found a way through it.

Despite the Liberty pushing the game into overtime and putting up a much stronger fight than in Game 1, Atlanta eventually escaped with a 101-98 victory. The Dream are now 2-0 in the semifinals against one of the league’s strongest teams, putting them one win away from the Finals.

Angel Reese finished with 23 points and seven rebounds while battling with foul trouble throughout the night. She was just one call away from being ruled out of the game. Meanwhile, Leonie Fiebich and Jonquel Jones of the Liberty also had 5 fouls each.

So while the officiating dominated the conversation for stretches, Atlanta ultimately made sure it did not define the result.

With Angel Reese and Co. just one more win away from reaching the championship series, Breanna Stewart and the Liberty quickly need to turn things around if they plan to stay. The next game will take place at Barclays Center on October 9.