At Sunday"s women"s Elite Eight NCAA Tournament game in Portland, Oregon, officials uncovered a discrepancy in the 3-point lines on both sides of the court just moments before tip-off.
The NCAA, under rules established in the 2021-22 season, set the women"s 3-point line distance at 22 feet, 1¾ inches.
However, an apparent difference in distances from the top of the key to the 3-point line at the Moda Center raised concerns.
Upon immediate investigation, it was confirmed that the lines were indeed not uniform.
The NCAA has released a statement about the different three-point lines at the Portland Regional. #MarchMadness https://t.co/hdj8DRY9Ha
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 31, 2024
Lisa Peterson, the chair of the NCAA Division I Women"s Basketball Committee, affirmed that the court"s configuration had remained consistent throughout the week, and both coaches agreed to proceed with the game despite the irregularity.
According to an NCAA spokesman, official measurements couldn"t be obtained before the game due to time constraints, as five previous games had already been played on the same court during the tournament.
In the subsequent matchup between top-seeded Texas and No. 3 seed N.C. State, the Longhorns suffered a 76-66 loss, becoming the first No. 1 seed to be eliminated from the tournament.
Texas coach Vic Schaefer disclosed that the discrepancy with the 3-point line was communicated to him during warm-ups but opting to rectify the situation would have risked missing the television broadcast window.
Schaefer noted that N.C. State"s head coach, Wes Moore, expressed a willingness to proceed with the game despite the issue, indicating that the line on Texas"s bench was accurate while the line on N.C. State"s end was slightly off.
Following the game, Peterson announced plans to professionally measure the court on Monday before the next scheduled game between top-seeded Southern California and No. 3 seed UConn.
In a statement released via social media during halftime, the NCAA acknowledged the discrepancy and confirmed plans to correct the court before the next game.
In a subsequent update, the NCAA expressed regret over the oversight and vowed to investigate the incident to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
Despite the decision to continue the game as scheduled, Schaefer lamented the situation, suggesting that such issues are unfortunately unique to women"s basketball.
