Minnesota Lynx coach, Cheryl Reeve sharply criticised the officiating following her team's 84-76 loss to the Phoenix Mercury in Game 3 of their WNBA playoff semifinal, calling the appointment of certain officials "malpractice".

Reeve was ejected in the final seconds after Mercury guard Alyssa Thomas stole the ball from Lynx forward Napheesa Collier and scored a layup to secure the victory.

After Thomas scored, Reeve ran onto the court toward one of the officials and had to be held back. She received her second technical foul, resulting in an ejection.

Collier, who sat out the final 21 seconds, finished with 17 points. The game saw 15 lead changes, and neither team led by more than eight points.

The Lynx struggled in the fourth quarter, scoring just nine points, while the Mercury's Thomas, Satou Sabally, and Kahleah Copper combined for 65 of Phoenix's 84 points, including the last 29 points and all 21 in the final period.

"If this is what the league wants, OK, but I want to call for a change of leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating," Reeve said.

"The officiating crew that we had tonight, for the leadership to deem those three people semifinal-playoff worthy, it's f***ing malpractice."

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— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) September 27, 2025

In her postgame remarks, Reeve was incredulous after Collier did not attempt a free throw, saying: "We were trying to play through it, trying not to make excuses.

"But one of the best players in the league, she had zero free throws and she had five fouls. 

"She had her shoulder pulled out and finished the game with her leg being taken out."

Reeve added: "I can take an L with the best of them. I don't think we should have to play through what we did."

Then, before walking out of the news conference without taking questions from reporters, Reeve said, "They're f***ing awful."