There was nothing at stake in Wednesday night’s matchup between the two worst teams in the WNBA but tempers still flared midway through the second quarter of the Connecticut Sun’s 71-62 win over the Chicago Sky, leading to ejections for Rebecca Allen, Ariel Atkins and Bria Hartley.
The Sky were hoping to cut into a six-point deficit with just under seven minutes to play in the second, but Maddy Westbeld’s 3-pointer did not go down. What should have been an innocuous play turned physical when Hartley and Allen got tangled up in pursuit of the rebound. Atkins then came charging in and everyone had to be separated by officials, coaches and security personnel.
“Yeah, it was unfortunate,” Sky coach Tyler Marsh said of the incident. “Things like that have a tendancy to happen when there’s not a control put on the game prior to. There’s usually an incident that goes overlooked that leads to something like that. [Allen] clearly got elbowed in the face right in front of a ref [earlier in the game], it wasn’t called and then other things ensued. It’s unfortunate for us.”
Replays showed Hartley shoving Allen to the ground after a box out sequence, and Allen responding by grabbing Hartley’s jersey and trying to drag her down as well. Atkins was furious with Hartley and sprinted in to start yelling at her. The broadcast microphones appeared to pick up Atkins saying that Hartley’s push was “unnecessary,” and Hartley saying “she pushed me first.” Atkins was still screaming at Hartley as she was dragged away by the Sky’s security staff.
“I would need to watch it back, maybe, to give a real assessment, but I don’t know. I don’t know if Ariel should have been ejected,” Sky guard Rachel Banham said. “She was just holding it down.”
After a lengthy review, the officials ejected Allen, Atkins and Hartley for their roles in the incident.
“We have a loose ball foul on Rebecca Allen, and then her and Bria Hartley get into an altercation that is deemed a fight. They’re both ejected from the game,” official Kevin Fahy said on the broadcast. “Ariel Atkins also comes in as an instigator, and she has been ejected from the game.”
Angel Reese, who has been sidelined with a back injury since July 29, was back in Chicago watching on TV and immediately took to social media to praise Atkins for sticking up for Allen.
This has been a frustrating season for both teams, who are on track for a lottery appearances. Even after Wednesday’s win, the Sun are stuck in last place at 6-26 and pace for the worst season in franchise history. The Sky, meanwhile, have lost 11 of their last 12 to drop to 8-24, which is only better than the Sun.
