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Angel Reese gets into heated confrontation with Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Bria Hartley after hair-pulling incident in Sky vs. Sun

On3 imageby: Dan Morrison06/15/25dan_morrison96
Angel Reese, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun
Angel Reese, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun - © David Butler II-Imagn Images

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese hasn’t backed away from a battle throughout her career. That was no different on Sunday when she got into a heated confrontation with Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Bria Hartley of the Connecticut Sun.

During the game, Reese was battling for a rebound on the board. That was when Hartley, undersized in the battle, appeared to grab Reese’s hair. Unsurprisingly, she didn’t take kindly to that, turning around quickly and confronting Hartley. Nelson-Ododa would step in and get shoved by Reese. Eventually, both teams would get into a scrap over it. You can watch the incident, here:

Immediately following the hair pull, Angel Reese can be seen turning around and saying something. She then shoves with two hands, seemingly aiming for Bria Hartley but contacting Olivia Nelson-Odoba. That’s something that Nelson-Odoba took major exception to, and as officials tried to separate the two teams Tina Charles fought through an official to make it clear that she took issue with Reese to her face.

Notably, the broadcast did see the hair pulling incident, but didn’t think it was intentional. Instead, they attributed it to physicality. Still, it’s easy to see why Angel Reese would have a difference of opinion on the play.

In the end, Hartley would be called for a loose ball foul. That was a common foul. Reese and Charles, for their efforts, would receive a technical foul each.

This, of course, isn’t the only game where Angel Reese has been involved in some kind of on-court controversy. She tends to wear her emotions on her sleeve and in the physical play of the WNBA, there are plenty of moments that can cause frustration. Earlier this season, she and Caitlin Clark got tangled up after Clark committed a flagrant foul on Reese, which led to Reese earning a technical foul. That incident, in its own right, led to an extended controversy and public discourse about the incident.

For Angel Reese, the confrontation was about the only thing that went wrong. She’d finish the game with her first career triple-double, notching 11 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists while shooting 2-7 from the field. She was solid defensively, too, with three steals and two blocks. Better than all of that, her Chicago Sky would go on to win 78-66.

With the win, Chicago has moved to 3-7 on the season. Connecticut, meanwhile, fell to 2-8. Perhaps, some momentum from this game can propel the Sky moving forward.