Coach Chris DeMarco maintained his composure during post-game discussions.
When asked about the refereeing following the Liberty’s 88-77 defeat to the Wings on Tuesday, DeMarco responded with a hint of sarcasm, stating that the officials were “awesome” and accompanying his remark with a sly smile.
The outcome of the game wasn’t determined by the officiating.
During the second quarter, the Liberty struggled significantly, being outscored 29-11. Of their few points, seven came from free throws, while they faltered with a dismal 2-for-15 shooting performance from the floor, hitting just 13.1 percent of their shots, including going 0-for-5 from three-point range. This left them trailing by 16 points at the break.
Though the Liberty managed to narrow the Wings’ advantage to under 10 several times in the latter half, they were unable to reclaim the lead.
After the loss, one of the biggest issues plaguing this league took center stage: officiating.
The Liberty were on the wrong end of a few tough calls late.
In one instance, Jessica Shepard appeared to elbow Rebecca Allen in the nose near the baseline as the ball dropped out of bounds.
The Wings maintained possession, and Allen left the game with an apparent nose injury.
Sabrina Ionescu said “it’s tough” to continue playing when it feels like fouls on one end of the floor aren’t called on the other.
“All everyone’s asking for is consistency one way or another, whether they’re going to call it, whether they’re not,” Ionescu said. “You got to call it evenly on both sides, and I think tonight you were kind of able to see how difficult it is when things are being called one way … and then a different way the other way.”
Ionescu believes flopping is a bigger issue now “than it’s ever been before.”
“Sometimes I think teams that don’t sell it as much don’t get rewarded,” Ionescu said. “And I think that’s just a tough way to play because you want to continue to play basketball at a really high level and not have to change the way you play because of the officiating and because of what’s being called. … I think that’s something that needs to continue to be a point of emphasis is we can’t let the game get to that.”
Ionescu said she understands fixes to officiating are a “work in progress” and acknowledged the Liberty didn’t lose Tuesday purely because of officiating.
“We’re never going to point the finger at it, at it being the refs or one thing or another,” she said, “because obviously that’s not something that we can control, but it’s something that we know is going to improve.”