New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart received her first technical foul since 2017 during Monday night's 95-84 loss to the Atlanta Dream. The foul occurred late in the fourth quarter after Stewart believed she was fouled by Angel Reese on a shot attempt, a call that was not made by the officials.
Stewart expressed her frustration immediately, stomping her foot and voicing her displeasure to an official. "She slapped the s--t out of my hand," Stewart said after the game. "So yeah, you gotta see that. Baseline ref, you gotta see that."
Stewart's teammate, Sabrina Ionescu, suggested the technical foul might have been an overreaction. "If I wanted to see Stewie get a tech for the first time since 2017, I would have wanted something a little bit more animated than that because I think there’s a lot of players in the league that do that nightly and don’t get techs," Ionescu stated. "So I was a little underwhelmed with the tech. If it was a stat like that, I would have wanted to see something crazy."
Ionescu also described Stewart as a "soft-spoken killer" who typically handles interactions with officials professionally. "She'll talk to them really nicely and she knows how to do it. She’s a pro; she does it the right way. Yelling at them doesn’t get you anything."
The disputed no-call occurred with approximately two minutes remaining and the Liberty trailing by eight points. Had Stewart been awarded the foul, she would have had an opportunity to cut the deficit to six. Instead, the subsequent play resulted in a three-point swing for the Dream, extending their lead to 11.
Despite the on-court frustration, Stewart led the Liberty with 27 points and 14 rebounds. This performance follows her being named FIBA Women's World Cup MVP after leading Team USA to a gold medal. Since returning from competition, Stewart has averaged 26 points and 10.7 rebounds over three games.
"I’m just really locked in," Stewart said. "I just want to leave it all out on the court and do that on a nightly basis. And I think that making sure to set the tone for my team and really let them know what type of basketball we’re going to be playing for the next hopefully month and beyond."