A near-comeback from the New York Liberty over the Toronto Tempo was foiled, in part, by a baffling technical foul. With less than two minutes left to play, Liberty guard-forward Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was ejected after throwing Jonquel Jones' shoe at Marina Mabrey.
Jones had lost her shoe on an early play, while Laney-Hamilton was not on the court at the time, having been subbed out at the start of the fourth quarter. It is likely that Laney-Hamilton was trying to get the shoe back to Jones, but missed — rather than found — her target.
Regardless of intention, the shoe squarely found Mabrey's back, prompting the Tempo guard to have to be held back by Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu. Laney-Hamilton was given a technical foul and ejected from the game, while Mabrey earned one free throw for the tech, which she nailed.
New York, which had trailed Toronto throughout most of the game, outplayed the Tempo in the fourth quarter on the way to a potential comeback, but Toronto went on to win the game 93-91. Mabrey's free throw alone wasn't the difference in the Liberty's loss, but the disruption may have affected the team's momentum.
In his postgame press conference, New York head coach Chris DeMarco aired his frustrations about the officiating, which he blamed for the narrow loss.