The NCAA women’s Elite Eight tournament encountered an unusual problem after officials realized something was wrong with the field.
In a rare mistake, it was discovered that NC State and Texas were shooting from different distances on each side of the court.
The error was not discovered until warmups, during which Texas coach Vic Schaefer and NC State coach Wes Moore met with officials to discuss the problem.
During this meeting, they pulled out measuring tapes to confirm that the three-point line was in fact at a different position on each end of the court.
Both teams agreed to play their match despite the gap, as they would both have equal time on each side of the field.
The teams battled hard, with No. 3 seed NC State defeating No. 1 seed Texas 76-66 to advance to the Final Four.
Learn more about March Madness
The Elite Eight game took place in Portland, Oregon, and the Final Four is in Cleveland, Ohio, so NC State will no longer need to play on the field.
However, the NCAA has one of its most anticipated games of the year on the field Monday, forcing them to quickly correct the problem.
UConn and Southern California face off in a battle of dominant talent, with Paige Bueckers taking on Juju Watkins.
The NCAA confirmed in a statement that the field will be adjusted in time for the 9:15 p.m. ET game on Monday.
“The NCAA was informed today that the three-point lines on the court at the Moda Center in Portland are not the same distance apart,” the statement said.
“Both head coaches were informed of the discrepancy and chose to play a full game on the field as is, rather than correcting the field and delaying the game.
“The field will be repaired before tomorrow’s game in Portland.”
It’s surprising that the error wasn’t noticed sooner, since Sweet 16 games featuring NC State and Stanford, Texas and Gonzaga, UConn and Duke, and Baylor and Southern California all took place on the field before measurement waste is not realized.
NCAA fans were baffled that a mistake like that could go unnoticed and shared their concerns on Twitter.
“Who the hell lined this land?” » said one fan.
“Haha it’s not even close to being the same lmao,” another fan said.
“Women always get screwed. You never see this happen to men,” said a third fan.
