Refereeing consistency -- or a lack thereof -- is once again as major topic of discussion in the WNBA playoffs, especially after the Las Vegas Aces blew out the Indiana Fever in Game 2 of their semifinals matchup on Tuesday night.
After dropping Game 1 by 16 points, the Aces were compelled to respond and even up the series before it moves to Indianapolis on Friday. And respond they did.
In a game that featured 41 combined fouls and 36 combined free-throw attempts, Las Vegas rode out the choppiness on coasted to a 90-68 win on the strength of league MVP A'ja Wilson's game-high 25 points.
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Even before Game 2 tipped off though, injured Fever guard Sophie Cunningham was calling attention to the status of WNBA refereeing on The Young Man and the Three.
"I promise you, everyone in our league feels that way, and I'm just kind of the only one who says something," Cunningham said on the podcast, released Tuesday.
Cunningham's comments came days after another injured Fever player, star point guard Caitlin Clark, was fined $200 for criticizing officiating during the Fever's first-round matchup with the Atlanta Dream. And Fever head coach Stephanie White went on to bash Tuesday's crew, blaming them in part for Indiana's struggles to establish its offensive gameplan.
"It's hard for us to find flow when there's a foul called every 10 seconds," White said. "I mean, it just really is."
Even still, White credited the Aces for their physicality and toughness -- an inverse from Game 1, when the Fever took advantage of a more sluggish opponent to steal a game on the road. That is something White and her team will hold on to as the semifinals shift to Indiana for the first time in 10 years.
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