WNBA PLAYER RANKINGS

 

CHERYL REEVE BLASTS OFFICIATING, SAYS TITLE 'STOLEN' FROM LYNX

NEW YORK -- Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said the 2024 WNBA title was "stolen" from her team due to what she called "incredibly disappointing" officiating in Sunday's 67-62 overtime loss to the New York Liberty in the deciding Game 5 of the Finals.

Reeve took umbrage in particular with a foul call on Lynx center Alanna Smith with 5.2 seconds left in regulation. After missing a pair of foul shots a few plays earlier, 2023 WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart went to the free throw line and made both attempts for New York to tie the score, effectively sending the game into overtime.

"All the headlines will be, 'Reeve cries foul.' Bring it on." Reeve said. "Bring it on. Because this s--- was stolen from us. Bring it on."

The Lynx challenged the call, but it was upheld. Reeve said after the game that a third party should be involved in reviewing challenges.

"At the other end when they challenged it, if we would have turned that clip in, they would have told us that this was marginal contact, no foul. Guaranteed. Guaranteed," Reeve said. "So, when you review, there should be the same parameters that you're reviewing with, but the three people on the game need a fourth party to let them know. Because that decided the game."

Reeve initially brought up her issues with the officiating at the beginning of Minnesota's postgame news conference when asked about her offense's lack of production in the second half.

"I saw a very physical and aggressive New York team," Reeve said. "We know this from being a part of the games for so long that sometimes you get away with this stuff when you're physical and aggressive, and they certainly did. It's a shame that officiating had such a hand in a series like this."

The Liberty shot 23 free throws to the Lynx's 6. There were 19 foul calls on Minnesota and 12 on New York.

"These guys shot 30% [from the floor]. Shot 30%," Reeve said of the Liberty. "The difference was in the foul line."

Minnesota superstar Napheesa Collier, who finished with 22 points, did not make it to the free throw line in Game 5. Entering Sunday's contest, Collier -- who went 11-for-23 from the floor in Game 5 -- never had 20 field goal attempts without a single free throw attempt in her career.

"I was getting held a little bit. It was a little hard to make shots," said Collier, who fouled out with 13.0 seconds left in overtime.

Reeve elaborated on her concerns.

"It just doesn't feel right that you lose a series with that level of discrepancy," she said. "We don't have a team that whines and complains and all that stuff. Sometimes, it probably hurts us. Maybe being a little more, I don't know, something. But you have a star player like Phee that just -- 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, at best, at best, sends their best player to the free throw line. I mean, that's tough. It's tough to swallow."

Asked to respond to Reeve's comments, Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said of the referees, "I thought they were pretty fair."

"The last game, that's where you get give and take. Game No. 1, we should have won that game," Brondello said. "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. I'm really proud of our team, how resilient we were, how we stuck together and how we continue to trust each other. That was our word today: Just trust the process. We found a way to win."

Both coaches previously critiqued the officiating in the series, with Reeve calling out how Collier was officiated differently than Stewart after Game 3 and Brondello pointing out the foul call disparity following Game 4 when the Liberty shot nine free throws to the Lynx's 20.

"Officiating, it's not that hard," Reeve said. "When someone is being held, be consistent. If you don't want to call it a hold at one end, don't call it at the other. Be consistent. Every team asks for that. Sandy asked for that last game. Three of the games in this series, we're talking about the same damn thing."

Games 1, 3 and 4 also were incredibly close until the end, each decided by two or three points. This Finals series was the first with multiple games that went to overtime, and Sunday marked the first time a winner-take-all Finals Game 5 went to OT.

Reflecting on the season, Reeve credited her team for "[doing] the things the right way. [We] built the team within the rules ... We gave hope to those teams that aren't willing to circumvent the cap or fly illegally or all the stuff that's happened over the last five years."

- Alexa Philippou, ESPN

NAPHEESA COLLIER DROPS 42 TO TIE RECORD AS LYNX SWEEP MERCURY

MINNEAPOLIS -- Napheesa Collier scored 42 points to tie a WNBA single-game playoff record, and the Minnesota Lynx swept the Phoenix Mercury 101-88 on Wednesday night.

Collier tied Breanna Stewart and Angel McCoughtry for the 42-point record when she made one of two free throws with 3:18 left in the fourth quarter. It was one of only two misses from the free throw line in 14 attempts for Collier, who was subbed out with 58.3 seconds left.

Collier, who scored a career-high 38 points in Game 1, became the first player in WNBA history with 38-plus points in back-to-back playoff games. She also set a WNBA record for the most points (80) in a two-game playoff stretch. Collier reached 38 points in Game 2 with 5:55 left in the fourth.

Minnesota plays Sunday against Connecticut, which advanced to its sixth consecutive semifinals after an 87-81 victory over Indiana earlier Wednesday.

Kayla McBride added 15 points, and Bridget Carleton and Alanna Smith each scored 12 for Minnesota. Courtney Williams had 11 points.

Brittney Griner scored 24 points for Phoenix and Diana Taurasi finished with 10 before fouling out with 2:34 left. Taurasi left to a standing ovation from the Minnesota crowd before Collier came over to the Mercury bench for a brief handshake with her fellow former UConn star.

Taurasi hasn't announced whether this is her final year in the WNBA, but the Mercury honored her at their final home regular-season game.

Collier scored 11 of Minnesota's 21 first-quarter points after making five of six shots. Collier finished the half with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting to help Minnesota take a 49-47 lead into the intermission. The rest of her teammates combined to go 10 of 26 from the field.

The officials reviewed a physical play in the third quarter involving Carleton and Phoenix guard Sophie Cunningham, who was assessed a flagrant 1 foul after the review. Williams was also assessed a technical foul. After it was all settled, McBride sank a wide open 3-pointer to give Minnesota a 58-53 lead.

Williams gave Minnesota its first double-digit lead of the second half at 72-60 with 2:17 left in the third quarter. The Lynx led by double digits the entire fourth quarter.

Minnesota improved to 5-1 against the Mercury this season.

It was Collier's third straight playoff game overall with 30 points, tying the A'ja Wilson for the longest streak in WNBA history, after scoring 31 points in a Game 3 loss to Connecticut last season.

- Associated Press 

US BASKETBALL NAMES 12-MEMBER. WOMEN'S ROSTER FOR PARIS

Reuters 

 USA Basketball announced a veteran roster for the upcoming Paris Olympics, boasting a squad where each member has at least an Olympics or World Cup gold medal.

The Phoenix Mercury's Diana Taurasi was named to her sixth Olympics, with 38 Olympics basketball games to her credit, the most of any women's player in USA Basketball history. She is second in Olympics points scored (414) behind Lisa Leslie (488).

The team, which consists entirely of players from the WNBA, also includes Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx), Kahleah Copper (Mercury), Chelsea Gray (Las Vegas Aces), Brittney Griner (Mercury), Sabrina Ionescu (New York Liberty), Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm), Kelsey Plum (Aces), Breanna Stewart (Liberty), Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut Sun), A'ja Wilson (Aces) and Jackie Young (Aces).

Cheryl Reeve is the head coach of the team, after serving as an assistant coach the past two Olympics under Geno Auriemma (2016) and Dawn Staley (2020).

"We were supposed to be giving Cheryl a team that has experience and familiarity with international competition, familiarity with the coaching system, leadership abilities, versatility, depth at every position," national team committee chair Jen Rizzotti told The Athletic. "The 12 that we selected, we felt were the best when it boiled down to a basketball decision."

Not included was collegiate star Caitlin Clark, who took Iowa to the Final Four in consecutive seasons and is in her rookie WNBA season with the Indiana Fever.

"Certainly, the success that Caitlin had in college in addition to the way that she's played in the beginning parts of the (WNBA) season was taken into consideration as we talked about this roster, but I think out of respect for the process, we tried to make sure we upheld our integrity when it came to selecting the roster," Rizzotti told The Athletic.

"Marketability, popularity, TV viewership, jersey sales was not something that we were supposed to be measuring."

Clark addressed the pending roster decision Sunday.

"Honestly, no disappointment," Clark said. "It just gives me something to work for; it's a dream. Hopefully one day I can be there.

"I think it's just a little more motivation. You remember that. Hopefully when four years comes back around, I can be there."

Taurasi, Collier, Gray, Griner, Loyd, Stewart and Wilson all were in the 2020 Olympics squad in Japan that went 6-0 while winning the gold medal. Wilson and Griner each scored 16.5 points per game in Japan, while Stewart had 10.0 rebounds per game.

Plum and Young also won a gold medal at Japan, but that was in the inaugural three-on-three tournament.

Staley also was on the committee that selected the roster, in addition to the WNBA's Bethany Donaphin, Atlanta Dream general manager Dan Padover of the Atlanta Dream, LSU assistant coach Seimone Augustus and Old Dominion head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones.

The USA women's team will have training camp at Phoenix then play an exhibition game against a team of WNBA all-stars on July 20. The squad also is set to play an exhibition game against Germany on July 23 at London.

Team USA opens Olympics group play at Paris against Japan on July 29 before facing Belgium on Aug. 1 and Germany on Aug. 4.

- Reuters 

REIGNING WMBA MVP BREANNA STEWART

AP Photo 

 NEW YORK (AP) — Reigning WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart re-signed with the New York Liberty, the team announced Monday.

The Liberty now have their entire starting lineup back from last season's team that lost in the WNBA Finals to the Las Vegas Aces.

“It’s a monumental day in New York as we are thrilled to welcome back the MVP, Breanna Stewart,” general manager Jonathan Kolb said. “Stewie’s return marks our unwavering commitment to excellence and our collective drive to bring a championship to New York.”

Stewart came to the Liberty last season after spending her entire career with the Seattle Storm. She averaged 23 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists and earned the league MVP honor for the second time in her career. The MVP award was one of the tightest races with Connecticut's Alyssa Thomas and Las Vegas' A'ja Wilson right behind Stewart.

LIBERTY'S STEWART SETS WMBA SCORING RECORD

USA TODAY Sports 

New York Liberty's Breanna Stewart broke the WNBA record for most points scored in a single season on Tuesday after her 40 against Dallas Wings took her tally to 885 points from 38 games.

The five-times All Star forward, who won two WNBA titles and Finals MVP awards with Seattle Storm before joining Liberty this year, moved past the 860 points set by Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi in 2006 when the regular season was 34 games.

BREANNA STEWART ON BECOMING A PART OF THE NEW YORK LIBERTY

 

BREANNA STEWART IS HEADED TO NEW YORK LIBERTY