It is not easy to get on the nerves of veteran forward Natasha Howard. But when the Minnesota Lynx started to lose its lead over a rather young Washington Mystics, emotions flared up. So much so that not only did the referees and team need to separate Howard from her defender, but Cheryl Reeve also couldn’t hold herself.

With 5:44 remaining in the third quarter and the host leading 47-49, Mystics’ Cotie McMahon had just entered the floor for Sonia Citron. Just ten seconds later, she was battling with Howard underneath the rim to grab a rebound of Nia Coffey’s missed three-pointer. Mystics’ Shakira Austin got the defensive rebound, but McMahon and Howard got tangled in the arms.

The latter spun around and then got in the rookie guard’s face before two referees inserted themselves between the two, and Michaela Onyenwere pulled her teammate away. The two were assessed with double personal fouls. It only got worse when Howard sat down on the bench to cool herself off.

Frustrated with the decision, Cheryl Reeve jumped in and protested aggressively with the referees. The Lynx boss was immediately penalized with a technical, her third of the season. Georgia Amoore made a technical free throw to bring the game closer by one point.

Meanwhile, Reeve will need to pay $500 according to the rules, and another technical would bump that up to $1000. A fifth technical foul can have an official reprimand from the league as well. But Cheryl Reeve rarely cares about such things. And in this case, she might have felt obligated to protect her player.

Howard is never the one involved in on-court incidents. And McMahon, on the other hand, is known for her aggression and chippiness. Earlier this season, she flung Natisha Hiedeman in a scramble for the ball. For that, she and Hiedeman were assessed technicals as well. 

But in this case, there were no bitter feelings after the game as Howard had a simple explanation for her clash with McMahon.

“Just got tangled up, boxing out, that’s all,” Howard said.

However, Howard appreciated her coach immediately jumping into defense. 

“When you have a coach that will have your back, then you have their back too. I’m happy we have a coach like that, that will do anything for us when it comes to those types of calls or whatever.”

The entire game was physical. Just moments before this play, Shakira Austin tripped over Howard’s knee, and the Lynx star accidentally stood over a fallen Angela Dugalic. Later on in the game, McMahon also rammed into Howard’s screen, leaving her on the ground. Olivia Miles also had some words with McMahon after she blocked her.

Howard is becoming the offensive powerhouse for the Lynx in Napheesa Collier’s absence. She ended last night’s game with 20 points on 9 of 15 shooting from the field with six rebounds and five steals. McMahon came off the bench and ended the win with 15 points on 5 of 9 field goals made and 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. Despite Reeve’s outburst, her postgame comments on the referees were rather measured. 

“It can be frustrating. But the narrative of officiating is really tiring,” Reeve told the media. “Our message in the timeout was that we have to control what we can control.”

The Mystics took advantage of the scrappy game, crawling back into the game and eventually taking the lead in the fourth quarter. After a 28-19 final quarter, the Mystics managed to secure the 84-79 win. The Lynx will certainly get another chance to avenge their home loss as they continue their home-and-home series with the Mystics on Wednesday.