Breanna Stewart thought she was fouled by Angel Reese on a shot late in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s 95-84 loss. The officials didn’t call it.
Stewart ultimately fouled Reese. The officials saw that one.
Stewart, known for her elite composure, stomped and gave the official a piece of her mind. It resulted in Stewart’s first technical foul since 2017, her second WNBA season.
“That absolutely was [because of] the no-call,” Stewart said afterward. “She slapped the s–t out of my hand. So yeah, you gotta see that. Baseline ref, you gotta see that.”
Sabrina Ionescu didn’t think Stewart’s actions warranted a technical foul.
“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.”
Had Stewart gotten the foul call she wanted, she would’ve had the chance to cut an eight-point deficit to six with about two minutes left in the game. Instead, that moment resulted in a three-point swing for the Dream, who extended their lead to 11.
That moment didn’t prove to be the difference by any means. But it was a rare sighting of Stewart.
“She’s a soft-spoken killer,” Ionescu said of Stewart. “She’ll talk to them really nicely and she knows how to do it. She’s a pro; she does it the right way. Yelling at them doesn’t get you anything.”
Stewart led the Liberty with 27 points and 14 rebounds. The performance continued what has been a dominant stretch, following her being named FIBA Women’s World Cup MVP after leading Team USA to its fifth consecutive gold medal.
In three games since returning from Berlin, Stewart is averaging 26 points and 10.7 rebounds.
“I’m just really locked in,” Stewart said. “I just want to leave it all out on the court and do that on a nightly basis. And I think that making sure to set the tone for my team and really let them know what type of basketball we’re going to be playing for the next hopefully month and beyond.”
