Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve had to be held back from a WNBA referee after losing her cool in stunning fashion during their loss to the Phoenix Mercury.
Reeve, 59, was left seething when star player Napheesa Collier rolled her ankle on the Mercury’s last-gasp layup in Friday night’s Game 3 playoff semifinal, before she had to be helped back to the locker room.
After Collier went down injured, the raging Lynx coach stormed onto the court to confront an official before being held back by a Minnesota player and members of her coaching staff.
The furious outburst went on for a good few minutes before Reeve finally backed down. She was then ejected from the game following her second technical foul.
She wasted no time in blasting the officiating after their 84-76 defeat, saying the game became too physical and that Collier ‘probably has a fracture’ without giving any more details.
‘People get hurt, there’s fights. And this is the look that our league wants, for some reason,’ Reeve said about the physicality. ‘We were trying to play through it, trying not to make excuses.
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve had to be held back from a WNBA referee in a stunning meltdown
‘One of the best players in the league (Collier) shot zero free throws, and she had five fouls. got her shoulder pulled out, and finished the game with her leg being taken out. And probably has a fracture.’
She then added: ‘If this is what our league wants, ok. But I want to call for a change of leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating. It’s bad for the game.
‘The officiating crew that we had tonight, for the leadership to deem those three people semifinals playoff worthy, is f***ing malpractice.’
Satou Sabally scored 23 points – including 15 in a stellar fourth quarter – as the Mercury beat the top-seeded Lynx in Game 3 to take control of their WNBA playoff semifinals series.
The Mercury have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series and can reach the Finals on Sunday with a win in Game 4 in Phoenix.
Sabally hit a 3-pointer to give the Mercury a 78-76 lead with 3:05 remaining and added two free throws with 2:01 left to push the advantage to 80-76.
Alyssa Thomas had the steal and layup with 21.8 seconds left that sealed the win, capping a 21-9 advantage in the fourth quarter.
