Cheryl Reeve says WNBA teams are using an ‘illegal’ tactic against the Lynx

Cheryl Reeve didn’t mince words after Minnesota’s loss to the Atlanta Dream.

The Minnesota Lynx hit a major bump in the road with an 89-81 loss to the Atlanta Dream, getting completely outmuscled in a game Atlanta dictated from the opening tip. Atlanta set a punishing physical tone inside, leaving Minnesota constantly playing catch-up and out of rhythm.

The defeat highlights a talking point hanging over the entire WNBA season, which is officiating. Players and coaches across the league have been reaching a boiling point over refereeing inconsistency.

With crews letting heavy contact fly on one end, only to whistle soft touch fouls on the next, leaving teams completely lost on where the physical line actually sits.

In her postgame interview on the Minnesota Lynx’s YouTube channel, Cheryl Reeve was adamant that the Atlanta Dream were being illegally physical and the WNBA officials weren’t calling it.

She said: “We’ve got to handle physicality, we’ve got to toughen up. And we have to exploit the physicality, we aren’t exploiting it. And we’re being guarded in a way that should be illegal, but we’re not putting the referees in a position to see it.”

The Minnesota Lynx sit atop the WNBA as league leaders boasting an outstanding 31-9 record, so perhaps teams are going after them.

Regarding league-wide physicality, the Connecticut Sun lead the league in personal fouls committed per game (22.4), while aggressive teams like the Atlanta Dream rank near the top for total fouls drawn.

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