Atlanta Dream star Brittney Griner was tossed early in the second half from their 88-85 win over the Dallas Wings on Wednesday night after getting into it with an official.
Griner was fighting for a rebound with Haley Jones and was called for a foul in the third quarter at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas. Griner seemed to own up to pretty quickly with Jones, and patted her on the back while helping Jones keep her balance. But Griner then approached the official who called her for the foul and started arguing with her, which quickly earned her a technical foul.
Griner then followed that official and made contact with her while continuing to argue the call, which automatically drew the second technical foul and resulted in her ejection. Griner was pulled back and walked off the court almost immediately.
Griner had four points and four rebounds when she was thrown out.
Griner entered the night averaging a career-low 10.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game this season, her first with the Dream after spending her first 12 years in the league with the Phoenix Mercury.
The Dream held just a one-point lead at the time that Griner was ejected, and they pushed that to eight points early in the fourth quarter. The Wings, however, responded with an 11-2 burst after that, and held Atlanta scoreless for nearly four minutes, to get right back in the game. But it was a huge 3-pointer from Naz Hillmon with less than three seconds left that finally sealed the win for the Dream.
Paige Bueckers led the Wings with 21 points and seven assists in the loss. Luisa Geiselsoder added 13 points, and Jones finished with 12 points. The Wings now hold just an 8-20 record with the loss, which was their third in four games. The lone win in that span came in a 10-point upset over the Liberty on Monday.
Hillmon led the Dream with 21 points off the bench after she shot 5-of-7 from behind the arc. Allisha Gray added 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds. The Dream now sit at 16-11 on the season, which is the second-best record in the Eastern Conference only behind the Liberty. They'll be back in action on Friday against the Mercury.
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