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SEATTLE — After her Seattle Storm suffered a heartbreaking 108-106 double-overtime loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday night, coach Noelle Quinn took the postgame podium with a message about the refereeing.
“Sky played 43 minutes and took zero free throws — it’s ridiculous,” Quinn said, referring to seven-time All-Star Skylar Diggins. “Maybe I have to come up here and get fined and rant, rant and rave for us to get respect and consistency. That’s all I want. I’m not a coach that complains often, but I see what happens when people come up here and do it, so now I’m about to do it.
“Forty-three minutes and zero free throws is bulls—. Period.”
As a team, the Storm took 19 free throws to 25 for Los Angeles. But none were from Diggins, who attempted 20 shots from the field, including a bank shot at the buzzer that could have sent the game to a third extra session.
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Friday was the second time this season Diggins did not attempt a free throw. The other, last Saturday at Washington, came when Diggins scored a season-low five points and attempted just 10 shots in 24 minutes.
Still, Quinn’s frustration went beyond Diggins’ calls or any specific player. She was upset with what she sees as a pattern, though Quinn has yet to be called for a technical foul this season. The other three WNBA coaches who haven’t drawn a technical — Chris Koclanes of the Dallas Wings, Rachid Meziane of the Connecticut Sun and Karl Smesko of the Atlanta Dream — are in their first year as head coaches in the league. Only Cheryl Reeve, who is in her 16th season with the Minnesota Lynx, has a longer tenure with her current team than Quinn, who is in her fifth season.
“It’s our entire team and I also have to be smart,” Quinn said. “There’s no point in trying to get a tech late in the game and now we’re turning a one-possession game into a two- or three-possession game, so I have to be smart and diligent in trying to maintain my composure. But at the end of the day, if that’s what it’s going to take to get calls, then I have to do it.
“It’s ridiculous. It’s been happening since game one and I haven’t said anything, but I watch what other people do and watch what other people say and see how it changes, so I’m saying something today. My players work so hard, and we’re not foul merchants. We’re not seeking to get to the free throw line. We’re just trying to play basketball, and we’re not getting rewarded for that. So maybe I need to get more techs.”
In particular, Quinn was incredulous about the outcome of a coach’s challenge with 58 seconds remaining in regulation after referees awarded the ball to the Sparks out of bounds. The broadcast replay suggested the ball likely last touched Los Angeles guard Kelsey Plum rather than Seattle defender Erica Wheeler, but after a lengthy review, referees ruled that there was insufficient evidence to overturn the call.
“I saw with my own eyes it go off the opponent and they said there was not enough camera angles to change that call,” Quinn said. “Again, the lack of respect, the disrespect. I can’t. I know I’m young and early in my career, but I work very hard, and so does my team, and we deserve to get refereed consistently.”
Had the call been changed, the Storm would have taken possession up three with under a minute remaining. Instead, the Sparks managed to tie the score on an unorthodox three-point play, with Azura Stevens following up after Dearica Hamby missed her second free throw attempt. That was the first of three ties in the last minute, as Los Angeles repeatedly answered Seattle’s scores en route to overtime.
Down five with 1:58 left in the first extra session, the Storm rallied to tie the score with 18.2 seconds remaining. When Plum missed the final shot, the game continued, becoming the first double-overtime affair in the WNBA this season. Hamby gave the Sparks the lead on a layup with 4.3 seconds left, and Diggins’ subsequent miss produced a crucial win as Los Angeles battles to make the playoffs and the Storm attempt to secure home-court advantage in the first round.
Despite a home loss Tuesday, the Sparks have won six of their past seven games. Friday was their fifth consecutive road win, including three that were by two points.
“That’s one of the things that I’ve been super impressed about this group,” said Plum, who joined Los Angeles in a three-team trade last offseason that sent the No. 2 draft pick to Seattle. “They don’t get rattled. We’ve been on the road. I think we’ve had a lot of close wins. If you look at overtime, everyone made clutch plays.”
Though she was disappointed by the result, Quinn praised All-Star forward Nneka Ogwumike, whose 37 points against her former team were a high since signing with Seattle in 2024. Ogwumike became just the sixth player in WNBA history to reach 7,000 career points in the game.
“We gotta talk about her more,” Quinn said. “You guys gotta talk about her more. What she’s doing is nothing short of amazing. Where she’s at in her career, to continue to be so efficient. She willed us in a lot of possessions. I know my group was tired, but she is one of the best players, if not the best player, on our team, and she continues to showcase that every night.”
