MONTREAL — Once again, the Liberty made a strong push in the second half, but the outcome didn’t change.
Sunday’s game was chaotic, marked by thrown shoes, ejections, and what Liberty coach Chris DeMarco described as “terrible” and “pathetic” officiating. In the end, New York lost to the Toronto Tempo, 93-91, during a celebration for the WNBA’s first Canadian franchise.
DeMarco was notably fiery, especially when addressing the referee’s decisions late in the game.
The situation escalated when he discussed the ejection of Bethonia Rainey Hamilton with 1:48 left in the game.
According to Laney Hamilton, he meant to toss Jonquel Jones’ shoe back to a teammate but accidentally hit Tempo guard Marina Mabry instead.
“You look at the situation and know things might go a certain way,” Laney Hamilton mentioned. “But that’s not something I would do, especially not when the game’s on the line.”
Regardless of his intentions, he got a second technical foul and was thrown out.
DeMarco argued that Laney Hamilton’s ejection, along with the free throws that followed, shifted the game’s momentum back and helped Liberty rally from a 15-point deficit.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” DeMarco expressed. “We had all the momentum. A shoe hits someone, he gets ejected, a free throw… I’ve never seen a top player in this league get fouled and not get a call. It was terrible. Just pathetic.”
Later, when asked for more details about the ejection, DeMarco reinforced his point.
“We’re just making things up; we don’t know what’s going on,” he remarked. “I just think it was a terrible ending to the game by the officials.”
Mabry hit the free throw, pushing Tempo ahead by two points.
On the other end, Sabrina Ionescu set up Breanna Stewart for the tying basket with 1:30 left.
Shortly after, Pauline Astier secured a defensive rebound but lost control after colliding with Maria Conde. The ball went out of bounds, and though many believed it was Liberty’s ball, crew chief Kevin Fahey reversed the decision and awarded it to Toronto instead.
While it seemed Astier’s foot might have caused the ball to bounce out, DeMarco saw it differently.
“I’ve never seen referees make such poor calls from the other side,” he commented. “The ball clearly missed the defender, came our way, turned over, and they gave it back to Tempo again.”
Nyara Sabally, who was picked up by Tempo from Liberty during the expansion draft, scored a layup that clinched the game for them.
Stewart had a chance to tie the game with 8.6 seconds remaining, but her shot missed, allowing Tempo to grab the rebound.
DeMarco’s frustration followed a day after Jones received a technical foul for voicing her displeasure with a call in Minnesota.
Despite this, Stewart felt the Liberty managed to keep their emotions in check during the last two games, even if the results weren’t in their favor.
Nonetheless, DeMarco maintained that players frequently suffer from inadequate officiating.
“I’ve never seen someone get fouled as much as J.J. in this league,” he mentioned. “She takes a lot of hits, just like Stewie when she drives. I respect the players and love the game, but they shouldn’t be overlooked when they aren’t complaining after every foul. They play the game the right way and deserve the calls when they get fouled.”
