- Diana Taurasi kicked fellow WNBA legend Sylvia Fowles in the stomach during a game Tuesday night.
- Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve was livid that Taurasi wasn't whistled for the "egregious" foul.
- "It was very disappointing behavior," Reeve said. "Not surprising, of course, but disappointing."
The Minnesota Lynx needed two overtimes to take down the Phoenix Mercury in Minneapolis Tuesday night.
And, as is often the case in down-to-the-wire contests, things got heated down the stretch.
With less than a minute remaining in that second overtime period, Diana Taurasi's Mercury trailed by nine. The league's all-time leading scorer put her head down and drove into the paint — but Minnesota superstar and fellow Team USA great Sylvia Fowles was right there waiting for her under the hoop.
Taurasi lowered her shoulder into the 6-foot-6 legend — who is the WNBA's all-time rebounding leader and practically bounced off her chest. When that didn't work, Taurasi extended her right leg to create separation, her yellow sneaker connecting with Fowles' gut and leaving the star doubled over in pain.
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"It was unacceptable," Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said on her podcast, "The Cheryl Reeve Show," Wednesday. "More than anything, it's disappointing that Taurasi would do that. But we've said this: Whether you're friends or not, when you're on the court, Taurasi doesn't treat you like a friend."
"There's been multiple situations where I question, I go, 'And you guys say you're friends?!'" Reeve later added. "Like, you could ever do these kinds of things to a friend?"
Fowles limped off the court and checked out for the remainder of the game. And adding insult to literal injury: Taurasi was never even whistled for a foul.
The league office "has the option, following its review of any game, to reclassify a flagrant foul or to classify as flagrant any foul not called a flagrant during a game," according to WNBA official rules. Sources confirmed to Insider that the league has the ability to review and issue a flagrant foul after the fact, even when no foul was initially called on the floor.
Reeve implied there could be a penalty on the way for Taurasi.
"In this case, I blame the officials," Reeve said. "That cannot go unpunished. It was so egregious."
"I'm going to wait for a ruling on that," she added. "It was very disappointing behavior. Not surprising, of course, but disappointing. There will be ramifications to that kick."
Taurasi is notorious for collecting fouls and jawing off to referees. She's already collected six technical fouls this season — just one shy of picking up an $800 fine and an automatic one-game suspension. Somewhat surprisingly, the 40-year-old has yet to earn a flagrant foul this season.
Fowles, Reeve, and the rest of Minnesota's team return home to host the Dallas Wings Thursday night at the Target Center. Taurasi and Phoenix will host the Washington Mystics later in the evening.