As Angel Reese made her second free throw in overtime to make the score 101-98 in favor of the Atlanta Dream, the broadcaster can be heard saying, ”New York has a reset. They don’t use it. Why don’t they use it?” This was the question on everyone’s mind, as the reset could have given the Liberty an opportunity to equalize the series score. Instead, the game ended with the score unchanged, as New York went down 2-0. But new footage from ESPN reveals that there is a clear contradiction between what Breanna Stewart and the refereeing staff are claiming.
The Athletic’s Annie Costabile took to X to post about the footage, which aired on ESPN’s NBA Today. The clip reveals the interaction that took place between the Liberty forward Breanna Stewart and game referee Kevin Fahy. The footage shows Stewart audibly asking Fahy something as Angel Reese geared up to shoot her first FT, before turning to Coach DeMarco. The audio revealed what she actually said.
“Do we have a reset?”
Turns out, they did.
A reset timeout is a special rule that any team can call on in overtime or the final two minutes of regular play. It allows the team to substitute players and lets the team inbound the ball from the frontcourt. Then why did they not use it in one of the most important games of the season?
During the postgame conference, Stewart claimed that Fahy told her he would check with the head of the refereeing staff, Fatou Cissoko-Stephens, who said the team did not have a reset. Fahy then relayed the information to Stewart. But the WNBA’s pool report with Fatou Cissoko-Stephens revealed that the refs’ side of the story is very different.
“Stewart was standing behind referee Fahy when he confirmed with his partner between Reese’s penalty free throws that New York did indeed have a reset timeout remaining,” Cissoko-Stephens claimed.
The divulging narratives become important as, after Reese’s free throws, there were just 4.3 seconds left on the OT clock. With the Dream leading by just three points, a reset timeout would have given the Liberty some breathing space, as they would be able to start play from near midcourt. But they lost this advantage due to the confusing situation that arose with the reset timeout availability. The Liberty were forced to rush the ball down the court, with Leonie Fiebich inbounding the ball to Breanna Stewart, who attempted a 32-foot three-pointer with just 2.4 seconds left on the clock.
To the horror of Liberty fans, it was an airball. All Dream fans in State Farm Arena were on their feet as Atlanta took Game 2, making the series score 2-0, a hole no team has climbed out of in WNBA history.
Stewart was clearly disgruntled by what happened in the dying minutes of the game, and she was not going to let it go even after the matchup ended.
Breanna Stewart and Chris DeMarco address the reset timeout post-game
Breanna Stewart is no rookie when it comes to WNBA rules. She has played a total of 384 WNBA games, including 50 playoff games, and is very familiar with the regulations. So, her not calling the reset was only because she was told that their team did not have a reset timeout left.
“Who knows what would have happened in the game, but we would have hopefully had a better shot at goal,” said Stewart.
DeMarco backed Stewart’s claim.
“They just said we didn’t have it [the reset timeout]. Multiple staff members. So yeah, it is what it is. We gotta demand more.”
But Stewart was not done.
“This is not blaming the refs, but when I ask both refs if we have a reset timeout at the end and they tell us no, and then we leave the game with a reset timeout, it’s pretty frustrating,” Stewart added.“Yeah, OK, I kind of got a good look at the end, but would just love to have some clarity on that situation.”
It’s unfortunate that a game as closely fought as this ended due to a confusing reset call. Both teams were almost evenly matched in all four quarters, with Atlanta leading by two in the second quarter, while New York led by one in both the third and the fourth. Everything boiled down to the final few seconds in OT, where the collapse happened for the Liberty.
Breanna Stewart was once again the highest scorer on either team, logging a monster 28 points. She was backed by Jonquel Jones, who added 21 points, while Marine Fauthoux came off the bench to add another 20. On the other side of things, Angel Reese and Jordin Canada both scored a team-high of 23 points each for the Dream, while Rhyne Howard added 18 more.
Game 3 will be in front of the Liberty’s home crowd at Barclays Center tonight, in a must-win game for New York. If they lose Game 3, they will be eliminated from playoff contention in a clean sweep by the Atlanta Dream.