New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello pushed back on the idea her team benefited from one-sided officiating in a 67-62 overtime win over the Minnesota Lynx in the series-clinching Game 5 of the WNBA Finals.

"I thought they were pretty fair," she told reporters in her press conference after the game (26 min mark). "The last game, that's where you get give and take. Game No. 1, we should have won that game."

Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve was withering with her assessment of the referees in Game 5. She went so far as to say "this s--t was stolen from us" after the Liberty attempted 17 more free throws and saw star forward Breanna Stewart sent to the charity stripe for two free throws to tie the game with 5.2 seconds left in regulation.

The foul on Stewart was the biggest flashpoint.

Lynx forward Alanna Smith maintained her defensive position and appeared to go straight up when disrupting Stewart's shot attempt. She was nevertheless whistled for the foul, a decision that was upheld on a video review after Reeve's challenge.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was among those unhappy with how regulation ended:

Especially when commissioner Cathy Engelbert is wearing a dress with the New York City skyline on it, the conspiracy theories will be rife after the Liberty had a controversial call go their way along with a sizable edge in free throws.

A more straightforward and boring explanation is that WNBA officiating has been criticized for years. Last October, The Athletic's Ben Pickman cited sources from around the league who said the referees were at best "inconsistent" and that the state of affairs was as bad as they've seen in a long time.

Following the Lynx's 82-80 victory in Game 4 to even the series, Brondello was the one calling out the refs after Minnesota got to the free-throw line 11 more times than New York.

The WNBA will never be able to fully satisfy coaches and players when it comes to officiating. Having the refs be such a focal point in a major Finals contest could at least spur the league to make some changes.