July 9 (UPI) — Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese took out her frustration by smacking a clipboard out of the hands of one of her coaches during a loss to the Washington Mystics, but later said the incident is “not happening again.”
The incident occurred with about 30 seconds remaining in the game Tuesday in Washington, D.C. The Sky and the Mystics were tied at 77 before the Mystics received two free throws.
Reese, who was visibly frustrated with a foul call, walked toward the Sky bench. Vice president of basketball operations and strength and condition coach Ann Crosby went to meet Reese in the area and attempted to hand her a clipboard.
Reese used her left arm to smack the clipboard out of her hands, sending it flying toward the court.
Reese, who hosts a podcast called Unapologetically Angel, later wrote on X that Crosby “didn’t let” her apologize for the incident because she knew she was frustrated.
“Those [expletives] were pissing me off,” Reese wrote on the social media platform. “Shoutout to Ann because she know it was the heat of the moment and she didn’t let me apologize because she knew! Not happening again tho.”
Reese scored a game-high 22 points and collected 15 rebounds, four assists and a steal. She also totaled five fouls and three turnovers in the 81-79 setback.
The All-Star forward, who leads the league in rebounding, tied the score with two free throws with 14 seconds remaining. But Sky center Elizabeth Williams went for a block and was whistled for a foul on Mystics forward Shakira Austin on the next possession. Austin made both of her free throw attempts with 2.8 seconds remaining.
Sky guard Rachel Banham missed a deep 3-pointer off the backboard at the final buzzer.
The Sky outshot the Mystics 45% to 42.3%, including a 31.6% to 26.7% edge from 3-point range. The Skt made 25 free throws, compared to the Mystics’ 31.
Reese, who has been among several WNBA stars to criticize officials in recent weeks, is among the league leaders in personal fouls (60). She trails only Ariel Atkins and Kiki Iriafen, who picked up 63 apiece so far this season.
She picked up 119 during her rookie campaign, which was tied for the third-most in the league and trailed only Aliyah Boston (130) and Kahleah Copper (121).
“We just have to be better,” Reese said, when asked about Williams’ late foul call. “We can’t let it go down to one possession. Refs make calls that they know are not right and they’ll look back and know that wasn’t the right call.”
Williams, who fouled out, totaled 20 points and seven rebounds in 30:07 of action. Austin led the Mystics with 15 points. She also recorded eight rebounds and five assists.
The Sky (5-13) lost three of their last four games, including their last two, and sit in 12th place in the WNBA standings. They have the second-worst record in the WNBA after the Connecticut Sun (2-16).
The Sky will host the Dallas Wings (6-14) at 8 p.m. EDT Wednesday in Chicago.
