New York Liberty guard-forward Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was ejected from Sunday's game against the Toronto Tempo after throwing a shoe that struck opponent Marina Mabrey. The incident occurred with 1:48 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Liberty's eventual 93-91 loss.
Laney-Hamilton's shoe flew through the air and hit Mabrey in the back during a play stoppage following a charge drawn by Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu. The shoe toss resulted in a technical foul for Laney-Hamilton, which was her second of the game, leading to an automatic ejection. It marked the first ejection of her career.
This was not the only contentious moment between Laney-Hamilton and Mabrey during the game. The two players received technical fouls against each other in the third quarter. Additionally, Laney-Hamilton was assessed a flagrant-1 foul late in the second quarter for making contact with Mabrey's face while scrambling for a loose ball.
Following the game, Laney-Hamilton stated that she did not intend to hit Mabrey with the shoe. "I would never intentionally try to hit someone with a shoe, especially while they’re not looking," Laney-Hamilton said. "Teammate was without a shoe, so I did my best to try and get it to her. Unfortunately, it did hit someone... I know just by the way that things were going throughout the game that it can look a certain way but that’s just not something that I would personally do… especially in a moment like that where the game is on the line."
Liberty coach Chris DeMarco expressed frustration with the ejection, calling the officiating "atrocious" and "pathetic." "I’ve never seen anything like it," DeMarco said. "We had all the momentum in the world. Shoe hit somebody, ejected, free throws." Mabrey converted the free throw awarded after Laney-Hamilton's second technical, giving the Tempo a two-point lead. Although the Liberty managed to tie the game and later take the lead, Toronto secured the win with a go-ahead basket by Nyara Sabally, snapping the Tempo's four-game losing streak. The loss dropped the New York Liberty to 13-11 on the season. The team has lost seven of its last 10 games.