SAN FRANCISCO — Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston was frustrated with the officiating in Thursday night’s 90-88 loss to the Golden State Valkyries.
She played just four minutes in the first quarter then picked up two offensive fouls over the course of 32 seconds — both of which she disagreed with — at the beginning of the second half. That forced her to sit for the rest of the half.
She was called for a third offensive foul in the third quarter but coach Stephanie White successfully challenged that to get it changed to a blocking foul on Laeticia Amihere, who had tried to sell the drawn foul with a fall.
“I wasn’t even able to get into a flow,” Boston said. “I mean, I played the second half, but I think it’s super hard to try and figure out and understand how the refs are calling it. I think it’s super hard to get charge fouls when I don’t think anyone’s in a legal position. I mean, shout out to the Valks. They did a great job selling it, and the refs bought it, to be honest, so good for them.”
Boston finished with 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 fouls in 22 minutes.
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at chloe.peterson@indystar.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter. Subscribe to IndyStar TV: Fever for in-depth analysis, behind-the-scenes coverage and more.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Fever’s Aliyah Boston on officiating: ‘(Valks) did a great job selling it, refs bought it’
Reporting by Chloe Peterson and Nat Newell, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
