PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The 3-point line for the women’s team NCAA Tournament at the Moda Center there was a difference in distance at each end of the field it went unnoticed for four games over two days before Texas and North Carolina State were made aware of the problem ahead of their Elite Eight matchup on Sunday.
Although the NCAA did not provide details, a 3-point line near the top of the key appeared to be about 6 inches closer to the basket than on the opposite end of the floor. The NCAA 3-point line is 22 feet 1 3/4 inches for women and men.
The teams’ coaches agreed to play Sunday’s game as scheduled with inconsistent 3-point lines rather than delay it, the NCAA said in a statement. NC State beats Texas 76-66 to advance to the Final Four.
“The NCAA was informed (Sunday) that the 3-point lines on the court at the Moda Center in Portland are not the same distance. NCAA staff and members of the women’s basketball committee on site consulted with both head coaches who were informed of the discrepancy. All parties chose to play a full game on the court as is, rather than correct the court and delay the game,” NCAA vice president of women’s basketball Lynn Holzman said in a statement.
Holzman said all lines would be measured after practice ended Sunday night and the correct markings would be on the floor before Monday’s game between Southern California and UConn.
“While the NCAA vendor has apologized for this error, we will investigate how this happened in the first place. The NCAA is currently working to ensure all field markings are accurate for future games,” Holzman said. “We are not aware of any other issues at any of the previous venues for matches in the men’s or women’s tournaments.”
Connor Sports makes March Madness floors for men and women.
“We apologize for the error that was found and have technicians on site at the Moda Center in Portland who were tasked with making the necessary corrections immediately following (Sunday’s) game,” the company said in a statement .
The court issue was another distraction for the NCAA during a women’s tournament in which play was outstanding but other issues took center stage.
A referee was removed from a match at halftime of the first round. Utah faces racist harassment before his first round match. Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame was forced to remove a nose ring and missed time in a 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 LSU coach Kim Mulkey threatened to sue the Washington Post over a then-unpublished profile of her and later denounced a Los Angeles Times columnist for what she called sexist criticism of of his team. The Times published the column in response.
And now the Portland court problem.
“I hate to say this, but I have a lot of colleagues who would say, ‘Only in women’s basketball,'” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. “I mean, it’s really unfortunate that this happened. But it’s like that.
Four Sweet 16 games on Friday and Saturday were played without any of the participating teams publicly saying anything about a problem with the field.
During pregame warmups, Schaefer and NC State coach Wes Moore were informed that the distance on the 3-point line at the top of the key was different on both ends of the court. The distance from the top of the key to the 3-point line was too short at the end in front of NC State’s bench, while the line at the end at Texas was OK, Moore said.
NCAA officials were asked to measure the distance and brought out a measuring tape about 15 minutes before the announcement. After discussions between NCAA representatives, coaches and officials, the game went ahead as scheduled.
A delay would have taken at least an hour, both coaches said, because it would have required bringing in an outside person to scout the field and could have forced the game to be broadcast on ABC.
“It’s a big deal to be on ABC,” Moore said. “We have had the chance to participate several times in recent years. But it’s a big problem.
Both coaches said their players were unaware of the discrepancy, and NC State’s Aziaha James in particular had no problems, making a career-high seven 3s on nine attempts. The NCAA said the field would be corrected before Monday’s Elite Eight game between Southern California and UConn.
“At the end of the day, we had already played a game and we both won, so we just decided to play,” Schaefer said.
The numbers showed that players struggled with the line too close to the basket.
Through five games, teams shooting late from the nearest 3-point arc was 25.8% (23 of 89) on 3s. At the end of the field it was okay, the teams shot 33.3% (29 of 87).
“These kids, they sometimes pull way behind, these days, who knows where the line is? » Moore said. “This is an unusual situation. But like I said, I don’t know if that was a plus or a minus, either way.
Baylor coach Nicki Collen, whose team lost to USC in the Sweet 16, published on social networks that with eight teams at one venue, the focus was on the game plan and not the appearance of the pitch.
Baylor was 6 of 14 on 3-pointers in the second half while shooting at the end of the court with the correct arc.
“I guess that’s why we shot better in the 2nd half,” Collen posted.
___
AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg in Albany, New York, contributed to this report.
___
AP March Madness Support: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket/ and cover: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
