A shoe stole the spotlight at Bell Centre on Sunday.
New York’s Jonquel Jones lost her shoe, and Laney-Hamilton threw it down the court, striking Mabrey in the back. It caused a commotion and led to the ejection, but Laney-Hamilton explained the incident post-game.
“I would never intentionally try to hit someone with a shoe, especially while they’re not looking,” Laney-Hamilton said, per the New York Post‘s Madeline Kenney. “Teammate was without a shoe, so I did my best to try and get it to her. Unfortunately, it did hit someone.
“I know just by the way that things were going throughout the game that it can look a certain way, but that’s just not something that I would personally do… especially in a moment like that where the game is on the line.”
Jones lost her shoe as the Liberty attempted a comeback. They ended up falling short, and Mabrey was a big reason for that, with a game-high 30 points.
The Tempo’s lone all-star didn’t believe Laney-Hamilton hit her intentionally, but she still had to work on keeping her cool in a chippy game.
“I’m working on not being rage-baited,” Mabrey said.
Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco also saw no ill intent in the shoe toss and felt the situation was blown out of proportion.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” DeMarco said, per Liberty reporter Myles Ehrlich. “We had all the momentum in the world. A shoe hit somebody. Ejected, free throws. I’ve also never seen a ref make such an atrocious call when he’s on the other side of the floor.”
He continued, “She was trying to get the shoe back to (Jones); it hit somebody. I think we’re just making stuff up. I have no idea. You’re asking the wrong person, okay? It was just an atrocious, atrocious end of that game from the officials.”
Laney-Hamilton had already been assessed a flagrant 1 foul earlier in the game for her arm hitting Mabrey’s face.
The Tempo and Liberty next play on Sept. 20 in Toronto.