​New York’s attempt at a late rally against the Toronto Tempo was undone in part by a puzzling technical foul that changed the momentum of the game. With less than two minutes remaining, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, a guard-forward for the Liberty, was ejected after throwing a shoe belonging to Jonquel Jones toward Marina Mabrey. Jones had lost her shoe earlier in the game, and Laney-Hamilton had already left the court after being substituted at the start of the fourth quarter. It appeared she was trying to retrieve the shoe for Jones, but she missed the target and instead struck Mabrey’s back with the thrown footwear. The impact forced Mabrey to be restrained by Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, and the play culminated in Laney-Hamilton receiving a technical foul and an ejection, while Mabrey earned one free throw for the technical.
The sequence disrupted New York, which had trailed Toronto for most of the contest, and while the Liberty used the fourth quarter to mount a potential comeback, Toronto ultimately held on to win 93-91. Mabrey’s free throw was not the sole difference in the final outcome, but the disruption appeared to affect the Liberty’s rhythm at a critical juncture.
In the aftermath, Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco voiced his frustration with the officiating in his postgame remarks, criticizing what he described as a series of questionable calls that helped secure the Tempo’s narrow victory. “I’ve never seen anything like that. We had all the momentum in the world. A shoe hit somebody. Ejected, free throws,” DeMarco said, expressing disbelief at the officiating, and adding that Laney-Hamilton’s action toward Mabrey was unintentional. “She was trying to get the shoe back to JJ; 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 officials.”
The loss also adds another chapter of drama surrounding Liberty coach Sandy Brondello—the former New York coach who was fired last offseason and later hired to lead Toronto’s expansion franchise—marking three straight defeats for New York. The Liberty now sit in seventh place in the league, continuing a challenging stretch that has included a fresh wave of controversy and questions about officiating consistency. For New York fans and analysts, the shoe-throwing incident will be remembered as a moment that briefly altered the game’s trajectory and sparked a broader conversation about how late-game technicals and ejections are officiated in crucial moments. This game will likely be revisited in discussions about laddered momentum, quick fouls, and how a single play can reverberate through the closing minutes of a close contest. The 93-91 Toronto win adds to New York’s season-long narrative of resilience tested by controversial calls and a daunting stretch of recent losses as they push to climb back into the upper tier of the standings.