The Women's NCAA Tournament was embroiled in controversy on Sunday when it came to light that the 3-point line at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, was incorrectly marked. The miscalculation was disclosed following the Elite Eight matchup between Texas and North Carolina State, a game that decided a spot in the Final Four.
The NCAA confirmed Monday that one side of the 3-point arc was about 9 inches short of the regulation distance, a “human error” made by Connor Sports, the contractor responsible for the courts used throughout March Madness. Regulation distance is 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches.
The NCAA uses a specific process for court markings, involving a hole punched in the floor to indicate the center of the basket, from which a calibrated device lays the game line. However, the Portland court's center hole was inaccurately positioned – the sides of the 3-point line were correctly painted but the 3-point arc's apex was not, resulting in the disparity.
“For all NCAA courts, a small hole is punched in the floor at each end of the court that indicates ‘center-of-basket’ during the finishing process. A calibrated vinyl-tape device is then placed in the hole, which lays the 2-inch game line to be painted,” Lynn Holzman, NCAA vice president for women’s basketball, said in an email update that went out to members, as reported by Ralph D. Russo of the Associated Press. “Connor Sports and the NCAA found the inaccurate line was the result of human error by the finisher contracted by Connor Sports … The review also found the sides of the 3-point line were accurately painted, as were all other court markings.”
Four games already took place on the flawed court. Both the North Carolina State and Texas coaches opted to proceed with the game Sunday after the revelation instead of postponing for the necessary corrections, a decision that the NCAA supported, citing the urgency of the tournament schedule.
Holzman apologized for the oversight and emphasized the need for enhanced quality control measures with NCAA suppliers to ensure such an error does not recur.
“We apologize for this error and the length of time for which it went unnoticed,” Holzman said. “Simply put, this court did not meet our expectations, and the NCAA should have caught the error sooner.
“We will work with all of the NCAA’s suppliers and vendors to establish additional quality control measures to ensure this does not happen in future tournaments.”
Coaches react to flawed court
Texas head coach Vic Schaefer expressed his unawareness of the discrepancy during the game, noting that it was brought to his attention only afterward.
“That was about two-and-a-half to three hours ago and some crying in between, so I’m not sure I can remember ..I can tell you this: go out there, get up in the stands and look at it and you can see it,” Schaefer said after game, per “I hate to say this, but I have a lot of colleagues that would say, ‘Only in women’s basketball.’ It’s a shame really that it even happened, but it is what it is.”
Despite the flaw, Schaefer was proud of his team's effort in the Longhorns' 76-66 loss to NC State, adding, “They are incredible competitors and they do it the right way … that’s how I can sit up here today with a smile on my face, even though I just got beat, and be so proud of them because I know they did everything they could today, yesterday, the day before to get to this point.”
NC State's head coach Wes Moore expressed his wish to have been ignorant of the 3-point line issue, emphasizing the necessity to focus on the game with a Final Four appearance at stake.
“I was worried about if our players were going to have to wait an hour to play. I like the fact we could jump out there and play the game,” Moore said. “And, again, I don’t think it affected the game, the outcome. Both teams played on it for a half.
After South Carolina's victory against No. 3 Oregon State on Sunday, NC State is set to face the No. 1 Gamecocks in the Final Four on Friday.
Stanford women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer also chimed in on the flawed court situation, describing it as “shoddy.”
The season for the Stanford women's basketball team came to end Friday in Portland, before finding out about the mismatching 3-point lines.
“Who knows how much it could impact a team?” VanDerveer said in an email to Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins. “You miss shots, people get frustrated, etc. Either way, it is shoddy workmanship and a lack of accountability. When you go to the gym you trust that the lines are correct and the basket is at the right height. Not a good look.”
Follow Us
Subscribe