Stephanie White Slams WNBA Referee 'Disrespect' After Fever Loss to Liberty

Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White blasted the referees after her team's controversial loss to the New York Liberty.

May 10, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White shown on the bench during the game against the Atlanta Dream during the first half at Gateway Center Arena @ College Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Indiana Fever fell to 2-2 on the 2025 WNBA regular season on Saturday after they lost a closely contested game against the New York Liberty by a score of 90-88.

There were several controversial calls made (or not made) by the referees in the final possessions of this contest. The Fever had the ball in a tie game with about 12 seconds left. Star guard Caitlin Clark drove to the basket before passing to DeWanna Bonner, who went up for a layup. The shot was blocked by Liberty guard Natasha Cloud, although there seemed to be some contact that wasn't called.

On the Liberty's next possession, Sabrina Ionescu received two free throws after a questionable foul call on Lexie Hull. She made both free throws, giving Indiana one possession left with about 3 seconds remaining.

Indiana then called a timeout to advance the ball. Clark got the ball on the inbound in front of the Fever's three-point line and went up for a shot, but the ball was ripped away by Cloud, thus cementing the Liberty's win. Many believed Cloud fouled Clark on the play.

FOUL OR NO FOUL? Natasha Cloud locked up Caitlin Clark & was NOT called for a foul — even though Caitlin wanted one — while forcing the game-saving turnover! 🔓

Liberty beat Fever in a thriller, 90-88!

Clark (🔥🗑️): 18 PTS, 10 AST, 10 TURNOVERS, 6/19 FGM - 32 FG%, 2/12 3PM,… pic.twitter.com/lO3R7vaNAy

— Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) May 24, 2025

Fever head coach Stephanie White blasted the referees when speaking with the media after the game.

"I thought she [Caitlin] got fouled. I think it's pretty egregious, what's happening to us the last two games," White said, per an X post from Scott Agness.

"The disrespect [by the referees] for our team, right now, has been pretty unbelievable. So it's disappointing that it doesn't go both ways, or it hasn't gone both ways. But we also can't allow that to consume us... We gotta be able to play through that."

She later added, "There's a system to making sure we can send stuff in [to the WNBA] and communicate our grievances...I don't know that I ever feel like the system works. We're not looking for a change, we're looking for consistency."

Fever head coach Stephanie White on the end of the game: pic.twitter.com/pLNI1tg7yB

— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) May 24, 2025

Props to White for being willing to speak her mind about the referees in this way.