"Can't say it's not intentional": Fever fans smell foul play after Stephanie White gets ignored by refs twice for timeout challenge

Stephanie White's Indiana Fever returned homecourt advantage to the Las Vegas Aces in the 2025 WNBA playoffs semis after Friday's Game 3 loss at home. It was close until the final quarter, which the Aces won 25-16, leading to the 84-72 result. A key turning point of the game occurred in the third quarter when the Fever led 50-48 with 3:32 left.

Aliyah Boston was questionably whistled for a foul on Jackie Young on the perimeter as the Aces guard drove the ball. After doing their due diligence while the ball was not in play, the Fever wanted to challenge the whistle. Coach Stephanie White jumped down the sidelines, but the refs seemingly ignored her.

Meanwhile, the Aces already in-bounded the ball, and it led to a Chelsea Gray 3. On the other end, Boston momentarily restored the Fever's lead to one after making two free throws, followed by a couple from Aerial Powers.

What may have been a six-point lead for the Aces was only a two-point lead. The Aces ultimately finished the quarter on top, taking a 59-56 lead into the final 10 minutes.

Fever fans were outraged over the third-quarter incident online, labeling it "egregious" and suspecting foul play by the officials. Here are some of the top reactions:

Taelor Jae

@taelorjae_

this is egregious… can’t say it’s not intentional when it happens two times in a row

CANELA

@canelaislive

They wont allow the Aces to lose to a broken Fever. They just wont.

.

@Bricheese32

The aces got their challenge instantly though

🐲 Matt Burgdorff 🐲

@MattBurgdorff

@WNBA is making sure that its darling, Aja, heads back to the finals. Aja couldn’t get it done fairly last season, so 🤷‍♂️.

Timothy Wozniak

@chem15t

Further proof @WNBA @CathyEngelbert that the officials are manipulating the game to favor the Aces.

AstridTX

@Astrid069266551

I see the Aces bought the refs again.

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Stephanie White blames Fever's shotmaking for Game 3 loss

Stephanie White blamed the Indiana Fever's shotmaking for their Game 3 loss against the Las Vegas Aces. Her early impressions right after the game suggested that the Fever generated good looks and gave themselves enough chances to win. However, the lack of execution was critical. The Fever shot 35.6% from the floor.

"At the end of the day, I felt like tonight was a lot more about our shotmaking," White said.

Kelsey Mitchell was 8 of 26, while Aliyah Boston was 5 of 16. They missed eight of their 21 free throws. For comparison, the Aces made 50.8% of their shots and were 14 of 17 from the free-throw line.

Las Vegas did that while four-time MVP A'ja Wilson was held to just 13 points on 6 of 20 shooting. The Fever's defense on her has worked, but it's the others who are hurting Indiana in this series, particularly former player NaLyssa Smith.

Smith had 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting in Game 2's 90-68 win on Tuesday and 16 on Friday, making 8 of 13 shots.