On Tuesday, the Indiana Fever lost by a single point to the Dallas Wings with Sophie Cunningham hitting out at the officials’ treatment of Paige Bueckers on her podcast – and the rookie responded
Paige Bueckers insisted Sophie Cunningham is entitled to her unique personal opinion after the Fever star lamented the officiating of the rookie.
On Tuesday, the struggling Wings clinched an 81-80 win over the Fever. Maddy Siegrist led the way with scoring for Dallas, putting up 22 points while Bueckers added 16 with eight assists and five rebounds in a rare win for the struggling Wings.
The Fever, missing Caitlin Clark, lamented the officiating due to several odd decisions. Indiana head coach Stephanie White and her players felt the referees were inconsistent in calling fouls in the post and beyond the 3-point line.
On her podcast Show Me Something on Wednesday, Cunningham who has been fined $1,500 for criticising league officials expressed frustration regarding officiating the Fevers tight loss to the Wings. She was most irked by the fact that referees allowed such limited physicality regarding Bueckers.
I love Paige to death, do not get me wrong, Cunningham said. I think shes a hell of a player and would love to play with her one day, but those refs were giving her every whistle last night. You literally couldnt touch her, couldnt touch her. That s— is so annoying to me. And if youre going to do that, then to give it to our guards. I just hate the inconsistency.
On Friday, Bueckers was asked about Cunninghams comments ahead of Dallass game with the Los Angeles Sparks. She kept it simple, declaring: Everyone is entitled to their own unique personal opinion.
Despite the officiating seemingly not going the way of the Fever, Indiana still had an opportunity to win the game on the final possession. Down one with less than two seconds to go, star guard Kelsey Mitchell who led the Fever in scoring with 24 points shot a 3-pointer for the win, but the ball hit the backboard.
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As the buzzer expired, the 23-year-old approached an official and angrily gesticulated to demonstrate her frustration. After the game, White gave a scathing review of how the referees performed that night, especially regarding calling fouls on opposing players and how they defended Mitchell and star Aaliyah Boston.
Yeah, I mean, I think it was a physical game, she told reporters. I think there’s a double standard in how people get their calls. I think Kelsey Mitchell, number one, is held or chucked on every freaking possession and never gets a call off the ball. I think Aliyah Boston is the worst officiated post player in the league.
She never gets a call. And, you know, there’s a double standard there, certainly. But, you know, again, if it’s going to be physical and you’re going to allow us to be physical, then allow both teams to be physical.
“If you’re going to call the holds and you’re going to call the chucks and you’re going to then call it both ways.
So, I mean, I think that we’ve been pretty consistent in what we’re asking for. And I didn’t feel like it was consistent, especially for those two. I think you could call a foul every time down the floor for those two.”
The 18-16 Fever are next in action against the 2-26 Connecticut Sun on Sunday, Aug. 17. Meanwhile, the Wings will face off against the Las Vegas Aces later in the day.
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