PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The 3-point line in the women's NCAA Tournament at Moda Center had a difference in distance on both ends of the court, and two teams were on the line until Texas State and North Carolina State were notified. It went unnoticed throughout the four-day game. There are problems ahead of Sunday's Elite Eight matchup.
The NCAA said in a statement that coaches from both teams have agreed to play Sunday's game as scheduled despite the 3-point line misalignment rather than delaying it. North Carolina State defeated Texas 76-66 To advance to the final four.
“The NCAA was notified (Sunday) that the 3-point lines on the court at Portland's Moda Center were not the same distance. NCAA staff on site and a member of the Women's Basketball Committee were two of the people who were made aware of the discrepancy. “All parties elected to play the full game on the court as is, rather than modify the court and delay the game,” said NCAA Vice President of Women's Basketball Lynn Holtzman. said in a statement.
Coach Holtzman said all lines will be measured after practice ends Sunday evening and the correct markings will be displayed on the floor before the game. Monday's Southern California vs. UW game.
“The NCAA vendor has apologized for the error, but will investigate how this happened in the first place. The NCAA is currently working to ensure the accuracy of all court markings for future games. “We're working to do that,” Holtzman said. “We are not aware of any other issues that have occurred at match venues for previous men’s or women’s tournaments.”
Connor Sports has created March Madness floors for both men and women.
“We apologize for the error discovered and have been instructed to have a technician on-site at the Moda Center in Portland to make any necessary corrections immediately following (Sunday's) game,” the company said in a statement.
While the play was exceptional, the court issues also became a distraction for the NCAA during a women's tournament where other issues were in the spotlight.
At halftime of the first round, the referee was removed from the match. Utah faced racist harassment Before the first round match.Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame forced to remove nose ring He missed time in the Sweet 16 loss to Oregon State. LSU coach Kim Mulkey threatened to sue the Washington Post over a then-unpublished profile of her and later accused a Los Angeles Times columnist of sexist criticism of the team. The Times edited the column. In response to the.
And now there's the matter of court in Portland.
“I hate to say this, but I have a lot of colleagues who say, 'It's just women's basketball,'” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. “I mean, it's really unfortunate that that happened. But it is what it is.”
The four Sweet 16 games played on Friday and Saturday were played without any of the participating teams saying anything publicly about the on-court issues.
During pregame warmups, Schaefer and NC State coach Wes Moore were informed that the 3-point line distance at the top of the key would be different on each end of the floor. Moore said the distance between the top of the key and the 3-point line was too short for the end in front of the North Carolina State bench, but the Texas end line was correct.
NCAA officials were asked to measure distances and brought out measuring tapes about 15 minutes before tipoff. After consultation with NCAA representatives, coaches and officials, the game was played as scheduled.
Both coaches said a delay would have taken at least an hour because someone would have to be brought in from outside to address the floor and the game could have been taken off air on ABC.
“It's a big deal to be on ABC,” Moore said. “We've been lucky to be able to participate in this event several times over the last few years. But it's a big deal.”
Both coaches said their players didn't notice the difference, especially North Carolina State's Asiaja James, who had no trouble making a career-high seven threes on nine attempts. The NCAA said the court will be corrected before Monday's Elite Eight game between Southern California and UW.
“At the end of the day, we had already played in that game and we beat each other, so we decided to just play,” Schaefer said.
The NCAA did not provide details, but one 3-point line near the top of the key appeared to be about 6 inches closer to the basket than the opposite end of the floor. The NCAA 3-point line is 22 feet 1 3/4 inches for both men and women.
The numbers showed players struggling with lines too close to the basket.
Through five games, teams shooting from the end of the closer 3-point arc had a 3-point shooting percentage of 25.8% (23 of 89). At the end of each floor he answered correctly, he shot 33.3% (29 of 87) for each team.
“These kids are shooting so far back sometimes these days and you never know where the line is,” Moore said. “It's an unusual situation. But like I said, I don't know if it was an advantage or a disadvantage either way.”
Baylor coach Nikki Collen, whose team lost to USC in the Sweet 16. posted on social media With eight teams in one venue, the focus was on the game plan, not what was on the court.
Baylor made 6-of-14 3-pointers in the second half, shooting from precise arcs on that end of the floor.
“I think that's why we shot better in the second half,” Collen posted.
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AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg in Albany, New York, contributed to this report.
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AP March Madness Bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket/ And scope of application: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
