The Minnesota Lynx missed 44 of their 70 shots in a championship-deciding WNBA Finals Game 5 loss to the Liberty.
When their head coach Cheryl Reeve sat down to the microphone for a bitter postgame press conference on Sunday night, she didn’t miss any.
“All the headlines will be Reeve cries foul,” she said. “Bring it on. Because this s–t was stolen from us. Bring it on.”
Reeve had begun the session complaining about the officiating.
“Sometimes you get away with stuff when you’re physical and aggressive, and they certainly did,” Reeve said. “It’s a shame that officiating had such a hand in a series like this.”
She later expanded.
“We know we could have done some things, but you shouldn’t have to overcome [the officiating] to that extent,” Reeve said. “This s–t ain’t that hard. Officiating? It’s not that hard. When someone is being held, be consistent. If you don’t want to call it on one end, then don’t call it on the other. …
“You have a star player like Phee [the Lynx’s Napheesa Collier]. I don’t get it. I don’t get how she can be held and go to the basket and get hit, and then a marginal [foul] at best, at best, sends their best player [Breanna Stewart] to the free-throw line.”
Reeve finished on a sarcastic note: “Congratulations to the Liberty on their first championship. It took them 28 years, congrats to them. We were that close to our fifth.”
The Lynx were whistled for 21 personal fouls, with Collier fouling out in overtime; the Liberty were called for 17 fouls. After Minnesota’s two-point win in Game 4, Liberty coach Sandy Brondello complained about the foul discrepancy when her team was called for 14 fouls, compared with nine on the Lynx.
Reeve also took swipes at the Liberty’s previous WNBA sanction for impermissible charter flights as well as the ongoing investigation into possible salary-cap violations by the 2022 and 2023 champion Las Vegas Aces.
“Built a team within the rules,” Reeve said of her Lynx. “Those sort of things that maybe right now aren’t happening in our league. And did it the hard way. We gave hope to those teams that aren’t willing to circumvent the cap or you know fly illegally or all the stuff that’s happened over the last five years, right? And so, I mean, do it the right way.”
Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello declined to engage when it was her turn at the podium.
“I thought they were pretty fair,” Brondello said of the refs. “But look, I have so much respect for Cheryl and I have so much respect for that Minnesota Lynx team because, man, that was ugly, but we found a way to win.”