MINNEAPOLIS — The Liberties lost Game 4, missing out on the franchise's first chance to win their first championship, and as usual, Sandy Brondello was devastated.
The 12th-year head coach, in his third year at Liberty, took issue with the foul differential in Friday night's game against the Lynx. The Lynx won 82-80 in the final seconds to force a winner-take-all game. Game 5 will be played in New York on Sunday.
The Lynx were whistled for nine fouls. Liberty 14.
There was no obvious foul that would have decided the game in the final seconds, but Brondello felt it needed to be brought up.
“But I say this: Look at the stuff here. [box score] and [Lynx head coach] Cheryl [Reeve] We talked about it last time, but we didn't hear from you today,'' Brondello said grimly. 'So do I need to talk in the press conference?' Because they were making scratchy tackles and we were down to the end and getting hit and getting nothing. It looked like it was 12-6 at halftime, but they tried to tie it near the end. It was 14-9. No, all we want is fairness. So if you get hit, it's a foul. I'm one of the best coaches in this league, but this pisses me off. Just be fair. If you get hit, it's a bloody foul.
“But in the end it was a close game. There are some things that could have been a little bit better. So I think we all could have done better, including myself and taking that damn timeout. I'm sorry, that… Don't say it, don't repeat it. We have to go back to New York and win.”
Reeve previously mentioned the foul totals after Game 3, when the Lynx had 18 points and Liberty had 13 points.
Entering the fourth quarter, Brianna Stewart committed four personal fouls.
Her first goal came in the second quarter from Napheesa Collier, who made two free throws and finished the night with 14 points.
She then committed two more shooting fouls in the quarter. One was against Courtney Williams and the other was against Kayla McBride, who made a 3-point play.
Stewart committed the most individual fouls of any player in Game 4.
Brondello admitted that he tried to call a timeout after Liberty grabbed an offensive rebound with 30 seconds left, looking for a chance to rebuild.
Nothing fell for Liberty after Stewart grabbed the boards, and the Lynx had possession of the ball as the shot clock expired with 18.1 seconds left.
“They didn't listen to me, so it's my fault,” she added. “But yeah, it wasn't our best possession. It was loud here. I don't know, maybe next time we'll just have to jump out from the middle of the court. So we've got to be better. ”
Both Nyara Sabally and Jones have taken over the workload for Stewart, who has been sitting more often due to foul trouble.
Both played against Collier and helped hold the Lynx to 26 points in the paint. Liberty was number 38.
Jones had 21 points in 11 minutes, and Sabally had four points and five rebounds.
Game 4 had 14 lead changes and 13 ties. In the previous three games, one team held a double-digit lead in the first half.
