The Liberty heard significantly more whistles in their favor Tuesday in their first win against the Lynx in four tries this season.

Minnesota made 14 trips to the free throw line against the Liberty’s 18, proving to be more of a fair fight than the previous game.

But that doesn’t mean the officials are all in the Libs’ good graces, especially Natasha Cloud. 

The backcourt veteran received what she thought was her fifth technical foul during the third quarter as the Liberty led 52-39.

Nevertheless, it’s recorded as her sixth, putting Cloud only just away from receiving a one-game suspension.

It came after Jonquel Jones was called for an offensive foul and Cloud believes she didn’t say anything to warrant it.

“I didn’t say anything inappropriate. I simply mentioned, ‘Move her knee, it’s displacing her,’ and I received a technical foul for that,” Cloud noted after their 85-75 victory at Barclays Center. “I believe our referees need to be held accountable too. What does it mean to be ‘soft’ during the game? I didn’t use any curse words, didn’t approach him aggressively. All I did was indicate ‘Her knee has to move’ through a demonstration. That doesn’t disrespect the game or JJ. It’s evident how often she gets unfairly challenged under the post. It’s no secret. Sure, we got some foul calls tonight. But being out-fouled 33-8 in our previous game is outrageous.”

“I always encourage her to be assertive, but there is a time and place for everything,” coach Sandy Brondello commented. “I reminded her, ‘You’ve already got one technical; don’t risk another one.’ She did apologize; sometimes it’s just the heat of the moment. When she becomes too emotional, it’s my cue to take her out, but she was fine this time.”

Cloud has the second-most technical fouls in the league this season behind Angel Reese (7). 

Last year, she tallied seven along with Diana Taurasi and Teaira McCowan in the regular season. In 2023, she was ranked 10th on the list with three. 

The Liberty’s fiery guard has always played that way. She isn’t one to mince words and is loyal to her teammates. 

It can prove costly and Cloud is aware of that.

Nevertheless, she believes there needs to be some responsibility from the league’s officials.

“I’m asking for accountability on the other side too,” she continued. “I’ve played the same way for 10 years now. I’m passionate on the court, and I believe I deserve some leniency, especially with referees I’ve interacted with for a decade now, investing in them. With our experienced referees, are we still committed to being here, or are we retiring this relationship? If we’re not going to strive to foster these relationships, I question what our purpose is here.”

With nine games remaining in the regular season and an exceptionally tight playoff race to battle through, Cloud is on thin ice for the remainder of the regular season. Technicals reset for the playoffs.

Cloud is an advocate of increasing the technical-foul limit based on an expanded 44-game regular season. She suggested the limit should be somewhere in the 11-12 range. 

“Seven isn’t the number anymore,” she said. “If we are adding more games in, then the technicals actually need to increase because we are at 35 games to the seven technicals.”