Breanna Stewart Questions Reset Timeout Confusion After Liberty's Game 2 Loss

Breanna Stewart's 32-foot 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds to go in overtime missed Wednesday night, and the New York Liberty lost 101-98 to the Atlanta Dream at State Farm Arena. Afterward, Stewart said the officials had told New York it did not have a reset timeout left to advance the ball.

Atlanta leads the WNBA semifinal series 2-0 after also winning Game 1 92-82 on Sunday.

Stewart had put New York ahead 98-97 with a cutting layup off a pass from Sabrina Ionescu with 33.8 seconds left. Naz Hillmon answered with a layup at 20.8 seconds, off a pass from Rhyne Howard, for the 17th lead change in a game that also had eight ties.

With 11.7 seconds to go, a jump ball between DeWanna Bonner and Jonquel Jones went to Ionescu.

Ionescu's pass went out of bounds with 6.5 seconds left, New York's 17th turnover of the night. Marine Fauthoux fouled at 6.1 seconds and again at 4.3, the second her sixth, and Angel Reese made two free throws for a 101-98 lead.

That left New York 4.3 seconds to tie it. Stewart's shot came from 32 feet. It was her fourth 3-point attempt of the night, and she had made the first two, both in the first quarter.

New York wanted a high ball screen off the jump ball, Stewart said.

"Sab saw multiple defenders, JJ was open, and the pass was just a little bit high," Stewart said. "But there were so many plays that led to this."

Ionescu finished with 10 points and seven assists. She had two turnovers, one in the third quarter and the one with 6.5 seconds left.

Stewart's larger frustration came after the final sequence.

"This is not blaming the refs, but when I ask both refs if we have a reset timeout at the end and they tell us no, and then we leave the game with a reset timeout, it's pretty frustrating," Stewart explained. "I got a good look at the end, but I would love to have some clarity on that situation. They said they would check, asked Fatou, and then told us no after Angel's free throw."

Fatou Cissoko-Stephens worked the game with Kevin Fahy and Marcy Williams. Fahy was the official Stewart went to.

"Angel had two free throws, and after the first one I asked Kevin if we had a reset timeout," Stewart said. "He said he would check at the table, looked to Fatou, and she said no, so he told me no. Who knows what would have happened, but we hopefully would have had a better shot."

Liberty coach Chris DeMarco said his players play the game the way it is supposed to be played and that the rest is up to the officials.

"They told us we didn't have it," DeMarco said. "Multiple staff members said that. We've got to demand more, but it is what it is."

New York was called for 25 fouls and Atlanta for 18. The teams combined for 29 in the first half, 10 in the second half, and four in overtime. Each team attempted 23 free throws. The Dream made 21 of theirs. The Liberty made 16, and Ionescu went 2-of-6.

The series is not over, DeMarco said, and New York believes in itself going forward.

"The game is over, and what's important now is focusing on Game 3," DeMarco explained. "There were plenty of calls we felt could have gone our way, but our focus has to be on being ready to go."

Stewart scored 35 points on 11-of-21 shooting with 11 rebounds and six assists. She had 25 points at halftime, then went 3-of-12 from the field after the break, including 1-of-4 in overtime.

Game 3 is Friday at Barclays Center. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2, and New York has to win to extend the series.