A BIZARRE shoe-throwing incident led to a New York Liberty star being ejected during their WNBA clash with the Toronto Tempo.

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, 32, was seen hurling her teammate’s shoe down the court.

Laney-Hamilton was ejected for throwing her teammate’s shoe at an opponent

The shoe struck Marina Mabrey in the back, with less than two minutes left on the clock

Laney-Hamilton was tossed from the game, and New York ended up losing to Toronto 93-91

All hell broke loose within a couple of seconds as the referees issued technical fouls left, right and center.

The incident started when Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu drew a charge, forcing a break in play.

During the stoppage, Laney-Hamilton tossed Jonquel Jones’ shoe toward her teammate, but it struck Marina Mabrey in the back late in the fourth quarter

She was given a technical, her second of the game, for hitting Mabrey in the back, resulting in her automatic ejection from the WNBA game.

The pair had received techs earlier in the game after getting into a skirmish with each other in the third quarter.

Laney-Hamilton was adamant after the game that she did not intend to strike her opponent.

She said, “I would never intentionally try to hit someone with a shoe, especially while they’re not looking.

“[My] teammate was without a shoe, so I did my best to try and get it to her. Unfortunately, it did hit someone …

“I know just by the way that things were going throughout the game that it can look a certain way.

“But that’s just not something that I would personally do … especially in a moment like that where the game is on the line.”

Liberty coach Chris DeMarco was furious about the incident and called the officiating “atrocious” and “pathetic.”

He told reporters, “I’ve never seen anything like it. We had all the momentum in the world. Shoe hit somebody, ejected, free throws.”

“We’re just making stuff up; I have no idea. You’re asking the wrong person.

“I just know it was an atrocious end of that game from the officials.”

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/sport/16682230/liberty-star-ejected-throwing-shoe-at-opponent/