​New York Liberty guard/forward Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was ejected from the showdown with the Toronto Tempo after an on-court incident involving a teammate’s shoe. The confrontation occurred with 1:48 remaining in Toronto’s 93-91 win in Montreal on Sunday. Laney-Hamilton had already drawn an initial technical foul earlier in the game for a separate incident with Tempo guard Marina Mabrey, and she later explained that she did not intend to strike Mabrey with the shoe.
According to the New York Post, Laney-Hamilton said, “I would never intentionally try to hit someone with a shoe, especially while they’re not looking. A teammate was without a shoe, so I did my best to try to get it to her. Unfortunately, it did hit somebody.” Laney-Hamilton was on the Liberty bench at the time the shoe left teammate Jonquel Jones’ foot and struck Mabrey in the back.
Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco suggested the incident was being blown out of proportion, telling reporters, “She was trying to get the shoe back to J.J. I think we are just making stuff up. It was an atrocious end to that game from the officials.” The shoe-throwing incident added to a third-quarter altercation between Mabrey and Laney-Hamilton, for which both players received technical fouls and where Laney-Hamilton also collided with Mabrey while the two were vying for a loose ball. Mabrey later added that she believed Laney-Hamilton did not intend to hit her, stating she needed to take a moment to compose herself after the exchange. Mabrey, who finished with a game-high 30 points, also contributed five assists, two rebounds and a block.
In the broader context of the game, Mabrey’s performance stood out as the deciding factor. The Tempo outshot the Liberty 52% to 43% from the floor and held a sizable advantage from beyond the arc, hitting 38% of their three-point attempts compared with the Liberty’s 19%. Laney-Hamilton finished with six points and three rebounds, while veteran guard Sabrina Ionescu led the Liberty with 28 points. Jonquel Jones added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Defensively and offensively, Mabrey’s 30-point performance anchored Toronto’s victory, as Laney-Hamilton and Mabrey exchanged sanctions and the benches became involved in the late-game tension. Mabrey’s reaction to the moment and her postgame comments indicated a belief that lane and intent mattered in the incident, emphasizing she did not think Laney-Hamilton aimed to strike her intentionally.
Looking ahead, the Liberty (13-11) have endured a three-game losing streak and will return to the court on Thursday night, traveling to Arlington, Texas to meet the Dallas Wings, a clash scheduled for 9 p.m. Eastern Time. The Tempo (10-13) will remain at home to host the Washington Mystics (11-10) on Tuesday in Toronto, beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern. This sequence shapes a pivotal stretch for both teams as they navigate the latter portion of the regular season, with implications for playoff positioning and momentum heading into the postseason.