The WNBA suspended Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve for Game 4 of the team’s semi-final play-off series against the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday for her conduct and comments during and following a loss in Game 3.

A furious Reeve was ejected from Friday’s 84-76 defeat that gave the fourth-seeded Mercury a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series after Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas stole the ball from Lynx star Napheesa Collier and made a layup with 21.8 seconds remaining to seal the win.

Collier was injured on the play, and Reeve received her second technical foul after running onto the court and confronting the officials.

“The officiating crew that we had tonight - for the leadership to deem those three people semi-finals play-off worthy - is (expletive) malpractice,” Reeve, a four-time WNBA Coach of the Year, said after Friday’s game.

In a statement Saturday, the league said the four-time WNBA champion coach was suspended for conduct and comments that included aggressively pursuing and verbally abusing a game official on the court, failure to leave the court in a timely manner after being ejected, inappropriate comments made to fans and remarks made in a post-game press conference.

The top-seeded Lynx, who lost to the New York Liberty in the WNBA Finals last season, need to beat the Mercury on Sunday to force a decisive Game 5 in Minnesota on Tuesday.

Minnesota Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve Suspended pic.twitter.com/RgBAwRwOZa

— WNBA Communications (@WNBAComms) September 27, 2025