Betnijah Laney-Hamilton didn’t mean to throw a shoe at anyone. But that’s exactly what happened Sunday, and it cost her a spot on the court in the final minutes of a game the New York Liberty nearly stole from the Toronto Tempo.
The sequence was bizarre. Jonquel Jones lost her shoe during a live play late in the fourth quarter. Laney-Hamilton, who had been sitting on the bench since the start of the period, grabbed it and chucked it down the floor toward her teammate. Instead of landing near Jones, the shoe smacked Toronto guard Marina Mabrey in the back. Officials called a technical foul on Laney-Hamilton and ejected her. Mabrey sank the free throw.
Laney-Hamilton was clear after the 93-91 loss: it wasn’t intentional.
“I would never intentionally try to hit someone with a shoe, especially while they’re not looking,” she said. “Teammate was without a shoe, so I did my best to try and get it to her. Unfortunately, it did hit someone.”
A physical game boiled over
This wasn’t the only heated moment between these two. Earlier, Laney-Hamilton was hit with a Flagrant 1 for catching Mabrey in the face. Then in the third quarter, both players picked up double technicals after a scuffle. So when the shoe came flying, it didn’t happen in a vacuum.
Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco didn’t hold back. He called the officiating “atrocious” and said the whole thing was mishandled. Mabrey herself said she didn’t think Laney-Hamilton did it on purpose. Still, it added another layer of tension to a game that already had plenty.
The Liberty were down by as many as 20 in the third quarter. They clawed back, and Breanna Stewart tied it at 91 with a layup with 1:30 left. But Toronto answered. Julie Allemand found Nyara Sabally for the game-winning bucket with 52 seconds remaining, and New York couldn’t recover.
What the loss means
Mabrey was the story on the other side. She dropped 30 points, her second straight 30-point game and fifth of the season. Sabrina Ionescu had 28 for New York, Stewart finished with 22, and Jones posted 10 points and 10 rebounds. Sabally scored 13, Laura Juskaite added 18, Maria Conde had 15, and Allemand dished out 10 assists as the Tempo snapped a four-game losing streak.
The Liberty are now 13-11 and have lost seven of their last nine. That’s not great. They’ll try to turn things around Tuesday against the Dallas Wings.
As for the shoe? It’s probably the most talked-about piece of footwear in the WNBA this week. And Laney-Hamilton will be back on the bench for the next one, hopefully without anything to throw.
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