WNBA: Indiana Fever star guard Sophie Cunningham has openly called out WNBA officiating during their 94-83 Game 3 first round playoff Game 3 elimination loss to the Las Vegas Aces. On her podcast on October 3, the Indiana Fever player said that there was one moment during a sequence where a coach’s challenge was denied that changed momentum late in the second quarter.
This happened when the game was tied 31-31 in the second quarter and 8:52 in the game. Officials whistled a foul on Fever guard Lexie Hull in a battle for position with Aces guard Brianna Turner. Head coach Stephanie White quickly tried to call a timeout to review the foul, but a timeout was not allowed as White challenged the call too late, which resulted in a technical foul.
Cunningham said she inquired about the reason for the overturned call, saying a referee, a man named Tim, responded that he “did not know the rules” pertaining to the review request. Cunningham expressed disapproval of the missed call and highlight Hull’s contribution to the team rotation. The second foul was Hull’s second of the game. Her third came only 36 seconds later, forcing her to play a scoreless 13 minutes of the do-or-die match.
The difference was even more glaring when it came to the free-throw line, with Indiana having a distinct disadvantage there with 20 attempts to Vegas’ 35 (making 14 to 28).} ‘We get 27 fouls called against us, and they only get 19,’ Indiana coach Lin Dunn said. ‘There were a couple of calls that we could have argued, but we didn’t complain because we knew that they were not going to change the calls.’
The Aces grabbed a 32-31 lead on the technical free throw by Chelsea Gray and extended it to 54-48 at the break. Indiana reduced the margin to 2 on 2 occasions in the 4th quarter but Las Vegas closed the game on a 24-18 run in the final quarter to win the series. Four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson led all scorers with 36 points and 10 rebounds for Las Vegas.
Per the WNBA Rulebook14 An official call to the table shall be made immediately, indicating (a) to what the call pertains and (b) on the court by a call to a legal timeout by the head coach or captain. This controversial call has generated discussions around consistency of calls from officials as well as the importance of communication in key playoff moments with the league set to expand centralized Replay Center operations in 2027.
