In a tightly contested game, the New York Liberty faced a controversial moment late in overtime against the Atlanta Dream, leading to a discussion about timeout rules. After Angel Reese's free throws gave the Dream a three-point lead with just 4.3 seconds left, the Liberty opted against advancing the ball to set up for a potential tying three-pointer. Instead, they inbounded from under the basket, necessitating a full-court attempt.
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Despite WNBA rules allowing a team to advance the ball to halfcourt with a reset timeout in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime, the Liberty stated that officials informed them they did not have a reset remaining. Breanna Stewart, a forward for the Liberty, expressed her frustration. "This is not blaming the refs, but when I ask both refs if we have a reset timeout again, and they tell us no, and we leave the game with a reset timeout, it's pretty frustrating," she said.
Stewart recounted her exchange with the officials, noting she was told by referee Kevin Fahy that a check with the table confirmed the absence of a reset. The courtside discussion occurred while Reese was at the free-throw line, leading Stewart to wonder what might have transpired had they been able to advance the ball.
However, the WNBA's pool report, citing crew chief Fatou Cissoko-Stephens, contradicted Stewart's account, stating that the Liberty indeed had a reset timeout. Cissoko-Stephens clarified that available timeouts are monitored by the scorer's table and that teams bear the responsibility for tracking their own usage. Both Stewart and Liberty coach Chris DeMarco reiterated that they were informed of the lack of a timeout, which the officials later disputed.
Atlanta coach Karl Smesko expressed surprise that the Liberty chose not to advance the ball, stating, "I thought they had a timeout left. I was expecting it to be advanced, but it wasn't." Following the game, the Liberty made an official inquiry regarding the timeout situation.