WNBA Refs Award Made Basket For Shot That Clearly Did Not Enter Basket

In case you were wondering, there are people who actually wager on WNBA games. And some of those people were likely paying very close attention to the final minutes of last night’s Chicago Sky vs. Atlanta Dream game, because referees awarded Chicago’s Elena Delle Donne a basket that did not even come close to going in.

Delle Donne was fouled on the shot by Sancho Lyttle, but Delle Donne only took one free throw and the scoreboard was updated to reflect both a basket and the and-one. Officials later looked at a monitor to see what they had missed, but elected not to change anything.

Chicago was down by four at the time; a subsequent Courtney Vandersloot jumper gave the Sky the lead, which they held at 73-72 until Atlanta’s Angel McCoughtry hit this buzzer-beating jumper:

If you’re generous, you concede that Delle Donne would have made both free throws and that Atlanta still would have won on the buzzer-beater. But the final minute likely would have gone differently if the teams were tied, anyway. Oh, and as for the gamblers? Chicago was favored by three.

[SportSouth]

h/t to Kevin

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