On Sunday, those who watched the Elite Eight clash between North Carolina State Women’s Basketball and the Texas women’s basketball team witnessed a game that was played on a court of uneven dimensions. In a statement released by the NCAA, it was announced that the three-point lines at the Moda Center in Portland were not the same distance. The head coaches of the The Longhorns and the Wolf Pack was aware of the issue but decided to continue the game anyway, rather than wait for a fix and delay the release. (according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel)
NC State won 76-66, but the erroneous measurements continued to be discussed after the final buzzer. In the postgame press conference, Texas head coach Vic Schaefer expressed his thoughts about it.
“I hate to say it, but I have a lot of colleagues who would say, ‘Only in women’s basketball,’” Schaefer said, via The Sporting News. “It’s really unfortunate that it happened. But that’s just the way it is.”
What makes the issue even more worrisome is that the Moda Center has already hosted four Sweet 16 games before Sunday’s game. While the league has said the court would be repaired before Monday’s game, the whole ordeal has people speculating that there would have been differences in previous results if the measurements had been noticed much earlier.
North Carolina State beats Texas on Sunday
Still, the mismatched downtown lines were no problem for the Wolfpack on Sunday. Led by Aziaha James’s scorching shooting, NC State used a fiery first half to book its ticket to the Final Four.
James made seven three-pointers en route to a 27-point outing. Overall, the Wolfpack made their presence felt from downtown, shooting 9-0-18 (50 percent) from three-point range.
James made five of his seven three-pointers in the first half to give NC State a 12-point lead entering the third quarter. The team managed to maintain a comfortable lead until the final quarter, where Texas cut the deficit to seven points with 4:42 left. Unfortunately for the Longhorns, James responded with his final three-pointer to push the lead back to 10 points. NC State made sure to keep a safe distance the rest of the way.
Looking ahead, NC State now faces Kamilla Cardoso and undefeated South Carolina in the Final Four.
Can the NC State basketball team win both the women’s and men’s tournaments?
It’s been quite a March Madness North Carolina State teams are in the running. In addition to the women’s team, the men’s team just beat Duke to also earn a spot in the Final Four. In NCAA history, only one school has managed to win both the men’s and women’s national championships in the same year: UConn. The Huskies did just that in 2004 and 2014.
Now, the Wolfpack are on the verge of doing the same thing. Both teams have two games left to play each, but it won’t be a walk in the park. As mentioned earlier, North Carolina State Women’s Basketball The South Carolina Cardinals will face South Carolina, which is arguably the most dominant team in the NCAA this season. On the other side, LSU, Iowa, USC and UCONN are all in contention for a Final Four appearance.
As for the men’s team, their Final Four opponent is none other than Purdue, led by the imposing Zach Edey. Assuming the Wolfpack can somehow defeat the Boilermakers, either UConn or Alabama will be waiting for them in the final.
All things considered, NC State has defied the odds time and time again. And as underdogs in the final four, they’ll have more motivation to surprise the doubters once again.
