Breanna Stewart calls on officials to be 'honest' as WNBA launches investigation

Sahil KurupFri, October 9, 2026 at 10:11 PM UTC

0

New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart was at the center of a missed timeout situation -Credit:Getty (Getty)

Breanna Stewart wants the truth about a missed timeout, and the WNBA is now looking into it.

The league is investigating the reset timeout controversy from Game 2 of the Liberty-Dream semifinal series, after New York filed an inquiry. The Liberty trail 2-0 in the best-of-five series following a 101-98 overtime loss in Atlanta on Wednesday.

The confusion came in the final seconds. Angel Reese, who also fumed at officials for an "egregious call," made two free throws to put the Dream up three with 4.3 seconds left. The Liberty had one reset timeout remaining, which would have let them advance the ball to midcourt, but they never used it. Stewart's 32-foot heave at the buzzer fell short.

• Coco Gauff suddenly withdraws from tournament after cheating scandal and 'racist' abuse

• Jerry Jones showed where his priorities are after Cowboys star's wife went into labor

Stewart said after the game that she asked official Kevin Fahy about the timeout. "I asked Kevin, I said, 'Do we have a reset timeout?' And he said, 'I'm going to check at the table,'" Stewart said.

She said Fahy then looked to lead official Fatou Cissoko-Stephens, who said no, and Fahy relayed that answer to her.

Advertisement

The officials told a different story in a pool report, which was not conducted until two hours after the game. Cissoko-Stephens said Stewart was standing behind Fahy when he confirmed with his partner that New York did have the timeout. The official also said there was no direct communication with the Liberty's coaching staff.

An ESPN video aired on Thursday shows Stewart asking Fahy, "Do we have a reset?" It is unclear whether he heard or answered her.

At Friday's shootaround, before Game 3 at Barclays Center, Stewart made clear how the dispute has landed. "In order to have respect, you need to build trust," Stewart said. "And building trust comes with being honest. And putting me in a position to question my integrity is really disappointing. And I know who I am and what I stand for, and what I heard, and that's that."

Stewart also described a conversation with the coaching staff earlier in the week. She said, "Obviously, they thought that we didn't have one either. So going forward, a learning experience for everybody."

Stewart of the New York Liberty spoke to the media about the situation -Credit:Getty

The Liberty did not put all of the blame on the officials. Sabrina Ionescu said she asked as well. "One ref told me yes, the other one shook their head no, so I think I was confused as well," Ionescu said. Jonquel Jones said, "It's not just on them; it's a bit on us, too."

Coach Chris DeMarco, who confirmed a staff member tracks reset timeouts, said, "We know the rules. We should have pushed harder, and it was just an unfortunate situation." DeMarco also defended his star. "Breanna Stewart is the model citizen for the game of basketball," he said. "She's always been honest."

Dream coach Karl Smesko said he expected New York to use the timeout. The WNBA rulebook gives each team one reset in the final two minutes of overtime.

No team in WNBA history has come back from a 2-0 deficit in a five-game series.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”