The Breanna Stewart-Angel Reese foul controversy has now taken another turn. The drama began on the court when the New York Liberty took on the Atlanta Dream in the first of their back-to-back games. In the dying minutes of the 4th quarter, with the Dream leading 88-80, Stewart unleashed her frustration on the officials for not calling what she felt was a foul.

Instead, Stewart received her first technical foul in nine years after protesting. Following the game, Stewart threw a final jab and told reporters that Reese should pay her fine as she was leaving the press conference. Now, the discussion has travelled off the court, as none other than Atlanta Dream vice president Renee Montgomery has answered Stewart’s demand.

“Listen, Stewie is my UConn family, but we ride for ATL Barbie. I mean, if it’s that serious, I’ll pay the fine,” Montgomery said when asked about her thoughts on Stewart asking Reese to pay her fine, via TMZ on X.

Both Renee Montgomery and Breanna Stewart are bona fide icons for the UConn Huskies. Montgomery was a key player for head coach Geno Auriemma from 2005-2009. In her final year at Storrs, the two-time All-American helped the Huskies win the NCAA championship with an undefeated 39-0 record.

Meanwhile, Breanna Stewart left UConn with one of the greatest women’s college basketball resumes in history. The 6’4″ forward won three National Player of the Year awards and four NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player awards. Stewart also secured four straight NCAA championships and was the heart of the 2016 team that went 38-0.

As vice president of the Dream, Montgomery understands better than anyone that Angel Reese is among the main stars of the franchise and one of the faces of the current generation of the WNBA. Therefore, loyalty to Reese is a bigger priority compared to shared roots with Stewart.

Regardless, Stewart has made up her mind that she was fouled by Reese. She continued her on-court protest and doubled down during the press conference. There, she told reporters her exact sentiments after receiving the third technical foul of her career.

“That absolutely was [because of] the no-call. She (Angel Reese) slapped the s— out of my hand. So yeah, you gotta see that. Baseline ref, you gotta see that.”

And it is not like Breanna Stewart is the only one protesting the no-foul on Reese and her subsequent technical foul. Teammate Sabrina Ionescu also admitted that for a player who did not receive a technical foul in the last nine years, the one against the Dream didn’t deserve to be ruled as a technical either.

“If I wanted to see Stewie get a tech for the first time since 2017, I would have wanted something a little bit more animated than that because I think there’s a lot of players in the league that do that nightly and don’t get techs,” Ionescu said.

“So I was a little underwhelmed with the tech. If it was a stat like that, I would have wanted to see something crazy. But good for her. She’s very composed. She talks to the refs really nicely and doesn’t get techs often. So I’m happy for her.”

There is a reason Stewart was so animated during and after the game, when we understand the context. The Liberty had trailed the Dream the entire game, and were playing to secure a better seed in the playoffs.

With the Liberty eventually losing 95-84, it basically confirmed that they will not receive home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Had the Liberty won, they would have jumped up two places in the standings.

Stewart finished with 27 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, and a steal. However, the Liberty can settle the odds against the Dream, and that’s exactly what Leonie Fiebich hopes to do. The two sides are facing each other again in their final regular-season game on Wednesday night at the Barclays Center.