INDIANAPOLIS — The referees had a “double standard” in officiating the Indiana Fever’s loss to the Dallas Wings on Tuesday night, Fever coach Stephanie White said.
The comments came after a particularly physical game, in which the Fever (18-15) roared back from a 17-point deficit but couldn’t get the final shot to go down, resulting in an 81-80 loss to the Wings (9-24).
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“There’s a double standard there, certainly,” White said. “But, you know, if it’s going to be physical, and you’re going to allow us to be physical, then allow both teams to be physical. If you’re going to call the holds, and you’re going to call the chucks, then call it both ways. So, I mean, I think that we’ve been pretty consistent in what we’re asking for, and I didn’t feel like it was consistent.”
White’s frustration was evident on Tuesday night, as she went up to the referees multiple times during breaks and timeouts to talk and get clarity on different foul calls.
Her frustration boiled over when she initiated a challenge on a foul on Aliyah Boston; Dallas forward Li Yueru clamped Boston’s arm with her elbow as she was going for the ball, then continued to drag her arm around as she went up for a shot. In that quick sequence, Boston wasn’t able to get her arm out of Yueru’s grip.
Still, even after review, officials maintained the shooting foul on Boston.
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“I think Aliyah Boston is the worst officiated post player in the league,” White said. “She never gets a call. And, you know, there’s a double standard there, certainly.”
The officials also had questionable consistency on two flagrant reviews on Tuesday night. The first one came just two minutes into the game, as Dallas guard Paige Bueckers landed on Sophie Cunningham’s foot after jumping for a 3-point attempt. That call was upgraded to a flagrant 1 foul; Bueckers got three free throws and Dallas got the ball back.
A similar situation came up in the fourth quarter when Dallas guard Grace Berger landed on Kelsey Mitchell’s foot after a 3-point attempt from Mitchell. In both cases, the defender impeded the landing space, and the shooter fell to the ground. But Berger was not called for a flagrant foul, with the officials telling the scorer’s table it was because Mitchell landed on two feet before Berger landed on Mitchell’s foot.
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“I think Kelsey Mitchell, No. 1, is held or chucked on every freaking possession and never gets a call off the ball,” White said.
This isn’t the first time White has called out the refs this season. She said the refs lost control of the game on June 17 when there were six technicals and three ejections in a Fever win over the Connecticut Sun, and passionately voiced her displeasure with a series of calls that led to a last-second Liberty win over the Fever on May 24.
In a press conference ahead of the All-Star Game in Indianapolis, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said league officiating is something they “continue to work on,” and that there is an independent evaluation of officials throughout the season.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White calls out WNBA referees
