Breanna Stewart and the New York Liberty entered Friday’s Game 3 fighting to save their season, with frustration over Wednesday’s overtime loss to the Atlanta Dream adding to the pressure. Following confusion over a late-game reset timeout, the WNBA addressed the incident shortly before the teams took the court for Game 3.
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“As part of our standard process when a team makes an inquiry, we have reviewed multiple video angles and available audio, and spoken with those involved,” a WNBA spokesperson said, according to ESPN reporter Alexa Philippou. “It is clear on video and audio that Breanna Stewart asked Referee Kevin Fahy about the reset timeout. At that moment, there were multiple overlapping conversations and non-verbal exchanges between the referees, game participants, and also Stewart with Liberty bench personnel, which led to a misunderstanding amongst the various parties.”
“Our referees can certainly handle these interactions better and have been given that feedback. No further follow-up is expected on the situation at this time,” the league added.
The statement confirmed that Stewart asked Fahy about the reset timeout, but it stopped short of establishing exactly how he responded. Instead, the league pointed to overlapping conversations and nonverbal exchanges as the source of the misunderstanding, without explicitly confirming Stewart’s account that she was told New York had no reset remaining.
It came after New York’s 101-98 overtime loss in Game 2. After losing the series opener, New York pushed Atlanta into overtime behind Stewart’s game-high 35 points, including 25 in the first half. Angel Reese countered with 23 points, scoring six of Atlanta’s 13 in overtime. Naz Hillmon delivered the go-ahead layup with 20.8 seconds remaining, putting the Dream ahead.
With 4.3 seconds remaining, a foul sent Angel Reese to the free-throw line, where she made both attempts to give Atlanta a three-point lead. With the game hanging in the balance, Breanna Stewart asked referee Kevin Fahy whether New York still had its reset timeout available. Stewart said Fahy told her New York had no reset timeout remaining.
That distinction mattered because a reset allows a team to advance the ball to the frontcourt without a conventional timeout huddle. Teams receive one reset timeout for the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and one for the final two minutes of each overtime period. New York still had its overtime reset available and could have used it to inbound in the frontcourt rather than move the ball the length of the floor.
Instead, the Liberty scrambled to organize their final possession, and Stewart missed a desperation shot, sealing Atlanta’s 101-98 victory.
The Liberty subsequently submitted a formal inquiry to the league about the sequence. The WNBA has now acknowledged the miscommunication and conceded that its officials could have handled the interaction better, but the decision brings no further follow-up at this time.
Before Game 3, Breanna Stewart made it clear that she did not want the controversy to distract the Liberty from their must-win matchup.
“I really don’t want to talk much about this; my main focus is Game 3, but what I will say is you want to have respect between players and refs. In order to have respect, you need to build trust,” she said, according to the Associated Press. “Building trust comes with being honest. Putting me in a position to question my integrity is really disappointing. I know who I am and what I stand for and what I’ve heard, and that’s that, and I’m going to continue to move on.”
New York entered Friday’s Game 3 trailing Atlanta 2-0 in the best-of-five semifinal series and needed a win to keep its championship hopes alive. Head coach Chris DeMarco also stressed the need to move forward rather than let the incident become a distraction.
“I think we all saw it happen and we move on, and our focus is on tonight. It has to be,” he said. “So we don’t want it to be a distraction. We’re back in our building, and they did what they’re supposed to do, and we got to do what we’re supposed [to].”
New York’s effort to extend the series ultimately fell short. Atlanta won Game 3 85-83 on Friday night, completing a 3-0 sweep and ending the Liberty’s season. Reese scored 22 points, and the Dream advanced to their first WNBA Finals since 2013.