Storm: Quinn lashes out at arbitration after double OT loss. Diggins, no free throws.

Noelle Quinn Questions Officiating After Seattle Storm Loss

After the Seattle Storm suffered a painful double-overtime loss to the Los Angeles Sparks, coach Noelle Quinn expressed her frustration with the officiating.

“Sky played 43 minutes and didn’t shoot any free throws, it’s ridiculous,” Quinn said, referring to Skylar Diggins. “Maybe I have to come here and get fined and rant so that we get respect and there’s consistency. That’s all I want. I’m not a coach who complains often, but I see what happens when people come here and do it, so now I’m going to do it. Forty-three minutes and zero free throws is bullshit. Period.”

Noelle Quinn, Seattle Storm Coach

The Storm attempted 19 free throws, while Los Angeles had 25. Diggins, for her part, didn’t shoot any, despite attempting 20 field goals, including a shot that could have sent the game to a third overtime. This was the second time this season that Diggins didn’t attempt a free throw. The other time, last week against Washington, she scored only five points and took 10 shots in 24 minutes. Quinn’s frustration went beyond individual decisions. She was annoyed by what she saw as a pattern, although she has not yet received any technical fouls this season. Other WNBA coaches who have also not received technicals are in their first year as head coaches. Quinn, who is in her fifth season with the team, expressed the need to be smart but firm in her stance. “It’s ridiculous. It’s been happening since the first game and I haven’t said anything, but I see what others do and say and how it changes, so today I’m saying something. My players work very hard and we are not foul seekers. We are just trying to play basketball and we are not rewarded for it. So maybe I need more technicals.”

In particular, Quinn was incredulous at the outcome of a coach’s challenge with 58 seconds remaining in regulation, after the referees awarded the ball to the Sparks out of bounds. The replay suggested that the ball probably touched Los Angeles player Kelsey Plum, rather than Seattle defender Erica Wheeler, but after a lengthy review, the referees ruled that there was insufficient evidence to overturn the decision. “I saw with my own eyes that it went out of bounds and they said there weren’t enough camera angles to overturn that call,” Quinn said. “Again, the disrespect, the disrespect. I can’t. I know I’m young and I’m at the beginning of my career, but I work really hard, and my team does too, and we deserve to be consistently officiated.”

If the call had been overturned, the Storm would have had possession with a three-point lead with less than a minute to play. Instead, the Sparks managed to tie the score on an unorthodox three-point play, with Azura Stevens, after Dearica Hamby missed her second free throw attempt. That was the first of three ties in the final minute, as Los Angeles repeatedly responded to Seattle’s scores on the way to overtime.

Despite trailing by five points with 1:58 remaining in the first overtime, the Storm rallied to tie the score with 18.2 seconds left. When Plum missed the final shot, the game continued, becoming the first double-overtime game in the WNBA this season. Hamby gave the Sparks the lead on a layup with 4.3 seconds remaining, and Diggins’ subsequent miss produced a crucial victory, as Los Angeles fights to make the playoffs and the Storm tries to secure home-court advantage in the first round.

Despite the home loss on Tuesday, the Sparks have won six of their last seven games. Friday was their fifth consecutive road win, including three by two points. Quinn also praised All-Star forward Nneka Ogwumike, whose 37 points against her former team were the highest since she signed with Seattle in 2024. Ogwumike became the sixth player in WNBA history to reach 7,000 career points in the game.