Liberty’s Rollercoaster Season Continues with Controversial Ejection

The New York Liberty’s rollercoaster season took another dramatic turn on Sunday, with a 93-91 loss to the Toronto Tempo. The team’s struggles were compounded by a heated exchange between Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and Marina Mabrey, which ended with the Liberty star being ejected from the game.

Laney-Hamilton’s ejection was the result of a bizarre incident where she threw Jonquel Jones’ shoe at Mabrey, hitting her in the back. The officials reviewed the play and gave Laney-Hamilton a technical foul for ‘throwing a projectile onto the floor.’ This was her second technical of the game, leading to her ejection.

The incident sparked a heated debate between Liberty coach Chris DeMarco and the officials. DeMarco criticized the officiating, calling it ‘atrocious’ and ‘pathetic.’ He felt that the officials’ performance down the stretch was poor, and that it affected the outcome of the game.

The Liberty had been on the second day of a back-to-back and entered the game having lost six of their last eight games. They fell behind by as many as 20 late in the third quarter, but stormed back in the fourth. With less than two minutes to play, they had cut the deficit down to one, and were about to get the ball back after Laura Juskaite was called for a charge.

Before play could resume, however, a shoe came flying across the court and hit Mabrey in the back. An incensed Mabrey picked it up and was about to raise hell before she was held back by Liberty players and the officials, who then went to the monitor to review the situation. No camera angle caught the entire incident, but Laney-Hamilton, who was on the bench at the time, had gone on to the court to pick up Jones’ shoe, which had come off on the prior possession, and tossed it back toward Jones. Instead of getting to her teammate, it hit Mabrey.

Laney-Hamilton was also called for a Flagrant 1 after hitting Mabrey in the face in the second quarter, and her first technical was the result of another dust-up between her and Mabrey. After the game, Laney-Hamilton apologized for her actions, stating that she would never intentionally try to hit someone with a shoe, especially while they’re not looking.

‘I know just by the way that things were going throughout the game that it can look a certain way, but that’s just not something that I would personally do,’ Laney-Hamilton said. ‘Especially in a moment like that where the game is on the line.’

Coach DeMarco’s Frustration Boils Over

The Liberty’s struggles have been well-documented this season, and their third consecutive defeat has put a spotlight on the team’s underperformance. Coach Chris DeMarco’s frustration boiled over in the post-game press conference, where he criticized the officiating and called it ‘atrocious’ and ‘pathetic.’

DeMarco felt that the officials’ performance down the stretch was poor, and that it affected the outcome of the game. He also criticized the officials for not making calls on key plays, including a driving runner by Breanna Stewart with less than 10 seconds to play that could have forced overtime.

‘I’ve never seen anything like that,’ DeMarco said. ‘We had all the momentum in the world. Shoe hit somebody, ejected, free throws. I’ve also never seen a ref make such an atrocious call when he’s on the other side of the floor.’

DeMarco’s comments sparked a heated debate on social media, with many fans and pundits weighing in on the controversy. The Liberty’s struggles have put a spotlight on the team’s underperformance, and their rollercoaster season continues to captivate fans and pundits alike.