File this under "speculation", if not "wild speculation": is the reduced size of the WNBA roster a (very) minor factor in this sort of retaliation. Let me make my case - again, not an excuse for throwing cheap shots, but a case for why DT, and not somebody else, administered a cheap foul.
What you don't see much anymore, in NBA, WNBA, NHL, or anywhere else, frankly, is an enforcer. Somebody who's job it was to retaliate if somebody on the opposition was out of line. Even in MLB, pitching inside these days is fraught with warnings, ejections, and other over-dramatics - Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale would not do well in today's game. But, back to my hypothesis: WNBA rosters are so short that, you can't devote a spot to somebody who, if things get chippy, will go in their and administer a couple of "attention-getting" hard fouls, reminding the foe that, they too have a star that can be banged around.
If a DT, Maya, or whomever, can get pushed, pulled, and pawed around - and, if the officials let it go, and there isn't a "Bam-Bam" or similarly-respected physical player on your roster to play sheriff - then, the choices are, a) take the physical play or b) retaliate on your own.
Again, this is not an excuse for DT - she was wrong. It's an exploration as to why she felt that she had to do what she did, if there was, in fact, any rational or other available path - and, does the short roster restrict the available paths.
or a few others.
