The Las Vegas Aces edged past the New York Liberty as A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young combined for 62 points to help the Aces beat the Liberty 104-99 on
Friday. However, a controversial no-call in the dying seconds became the talking point of the Liberty’s loss. Breanna Stewart, who kept her team competitive till the end, insisted that it was an error by the on-court officials. When asked about this sequence, she said that even Wilson agreed with her.
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“Yeah, I did. So did A’ja. She was walking back to halfcourt,” Stewart said as per New York Post’s Madeline Kenney. With the Aces just three points ahead of the Liberty, the call going Stewart and Co.’s could’ve been significant. Unfortunately for the Liberty, the refs determined it was the Aces’ ball.
The sequence took place directly in front of Breanna Stewart with just 17.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter. A’ja Wilson lost control of the ball, and it flew out of bounds. While a Liberty defender did have her arm outstretched to block the ball, she never made contact with the ball. A’ja Wilson even cried out in frustration for losing the ball, but officials saw it differently, and the Liberty couldn’t challenge.
For the Liberty fans, the loss would be very frustrating, especially the way it ended. And this match reflects what has gone on around the league this season, with Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the league coming under intense scrutiny when it comes to officiating.
Imago
BROOKLYN, NY – JULY 08: New York Liberty Forward Breanna Stewart 30 and Las Vegas Aces Center A ja Wilson 22 battle for the ball during the first half of the WNBA, Basketball Damen, USA game between the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty on July 8, 2025, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire WNBA: JUL 08 Las Vegas Aces at New York Liberty EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon250708031
The league changed its metrics surrounding personal foul calls before the start of the season. This was done to reduce excessive physicality and emphasize freedom of movement. However, everyone, from fans and experts to analysts, has pointed out the inconsistency in officiating.
In fact, it was a missed call on June 24 that was at the origin of what became the league’s biggest controversy this year. During the game between the Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury, the officials didn’t call a foul in real-time despite Thomas making hard contact with Clark’s throat.
While they later reviewed the footage and upgraded it to a flagrant foul 2, the social media backlash against Thomas had already grown too extreme to control.
Now the league has decided to build a centralized Replay Center with a stricter focus on physicality to address major officiating complaints. The league will utilize a station in Secaucus, New Jersey, as the central hub for all reviewable replay situations during WNBA games, for plays like the one Stewart called out.
However, that won’t be operational until the 2027 season, and this loss also ended up spoiling a historic night for Breanna Stewart.
Breanna Stewart didn’t get her cherry on the cake
Stewart had 26 points and 11 rebounds for New York against the Aces, and entered the hallowed top 10 on the WNBA’s career scoring list. She now has 6,588 points and moved past Candace Parker, who has 6,574 career points. Incidentally, Parker was on a live call when Stewart achieved this historic feat.
“And she’s doing it on a nasty angle right there. Got fouled twice… Stewie [is] already breaking my records. She made sure I was courtside for it,” Parker joked in the broadcasting clip that Sports on Prime posted on their Instagram after the game.
However, the controversial fourth-quarter call prevented it from being the historic occasion for Stewart. The Aces stayed in second place on the league standings with a 20-8 record. However, they snapped the Liberty’s three-game winning streak.
Even Liberty coach Chris DeMarco told the media after the game that he thought they had a chance to win the game, but chose to look at the positives.
“We had a chance to win. We gave ourselves a chance, and I’m really happy with the way the group fought back and we’re pretty resilient again.”
Meanwhile, Breanna Stewart wasn’t pleased with how her team played but also agreed that they didn’t give in till the final whistle.
“Honestly today, we lost by five, and there’s things that we could have done differently and there’s calls that could have gone our way,”
Breanna Stewart, a three-time WNBA Champion, led the New York Liberty to their first franchise title in 2024. This season, she is averaging 21.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game, leading the Liberty’s charge towards a deep postseason run.