Liberty Coach Rips Foul Calls After Loss

New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello held nothing back when analyzing what went wrong in Game 4 of the 2024 WNBA Finals on Friday.

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

The New York Liberty was unable to engage in their victorious postgame tradition of lighting a torch its copper-clad namesake carries.

New York, of course, on the road, a Brooklyn Nets preseason game prevented a watch party at Barclays Center, and, most importantly, they fell to the Minnesota Lynx by an 82-80 final in Game 4 of the 2024 WNBA Finals. The narrow loss doused the Liberty's chance to take home its first-ever postseason title after 27 years of trying and sets up a winner-take-all Game 5 on Atlantic Avenue on Sunday night (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Head coach Sandy Brondello, however, was more than willing to bring the fire in her postgame comments, taking issue with the game's free throw discrepancy.

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

"We got no calls today. So do I need to talk up in a press conference?" Brondello rhetorically asked. "Because they were getting ticky-tacks and we went down there and got hit and get nothing. It was like 12-6 at halftime and they tried to even it up near the end. All we want is fair, okay? So if we are getting hit, that's a foul. I'm one of the nicest bloody coaches in this league, but this [ticks] me off. Just be fair. If they're getting hit, it's a bloody foul."

New York was perfect at the foul line on Friday but was granted only nine visits. Minnesota more than doubled that with 20 and the last two provided the difference: Bridget Carleton was awarded a couple with two seconds left when she quickly tried to put back a Courtney Williams miss and she successfully sank both off the call against Sabrina Ionescu to create the final margin.

Minnesota's plus-11 advantage was the largest gap in free throws in the series to date. Following Game 3, an 80-77 win for New York, Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve remarked that "the game is called differently" for Liberty star Breanna Stewart as compared to Minneapolis counterpart Naphessa Collier. Brondello briefly referenced Reeve's comments and the longtime Lynx boss retorted that the lack of calls in Game 3 gave the MVP runner-up Collier "something to prove." Collier led Minnesota with six tries at the foul line (two more than Game 3), hitting four.

Oct 18, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello talks to the media before game four of the 2024 WNBA Finals against the Minnesota Lynx at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Despite her issues beyond seafoam, Brondello also shouldered blame for the defeat, posting notable frustration on the Liberty's penultimate possession that led to Carleton's heroics. Leonie Fiebich had goten a rebound off a Kayla McBride miss with 51 seconds remaining, but played pressed on in lieu of a timeout that Brondello sought to call. The possession eventually ended in a shot clock violation that gave the Lynx the ball back.

"I actually was trying to call a timeout, but they didn't hear me. So that's on me," Brondello said. "It wasn't our best possession. It was loud in here. I don't know, maybe I just have to sprint out in the middle of the court next time. So I've got to be better."

"Minnesota did what they needed to do here to tie it up, and now we go back home. We love playing in front of our home crowd," the coach continued. "I have a lot of respect for Minnesota, don't get me wrong. This is a really tough team, really tough team. They play well. They compete. So we've got one more game, and we're going to win on our home court."

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