Minnesota Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve Didn’t Hold Back After Losing WNBA Finals

In this story:

The WNBA season has come to an end as the New York Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx in five games.

In a winner-take-all Game 5, the Liberty snuck away with the 67-62 overtime win to capture the first WNBA title in franchise history.

Unfortunately, the game was full of controversial decisions by the officials. There were a total of 38 fouls called in the game.

The most controversial one came in the final seconds of regulation. Breanna Stewart headed to the free throw line and knocked down both shots to tie the game at 60 and send it into an extra period.

Liberty star Breanna Stewart.

Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

After that, the Liberty outscored the Lynx 7-2 in the final frame to capture the WNBA crown.

Afterward, Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve did not hold back on her opinion about the way the game was called.

“It’s a shame that officiating had such a hand in a series like this,” Reeve stated. “I thought today was incredibly disappointing. We have got to change our challenge rules… That was not a foul. That call should’ve been reversed… That decided the game.”

The call in question was regarding Alanna Smith. Stewart was awarded a pair of free throws as the officials called a shooting foul on Smith.

However, the replay will be reviewed for quite some time, given the way things went down.

It was a huge shift in momentum, and Reeve stated that something needs to change regarding the challenge process.

The challenge by the Lynx did not change the call, which ended up in the Liberty tying the game and eventually winning the title.

It was a crushing blow to the Lynx, and it should spark some questions for the league office on how to change such protocols going forward.