The NCAA Women’s National Basketball Championship Tournament has been getting boffo ratings on TV and great press as a result of some thrilling games. The Iowa-LSU Elite Eight game featuring phenom Caitlan Clark pulled in an astonishing 12.3 million viewers. The game “outdrew all but one of the five games in last year’s NBA Finals, along with the clinching game of last year’s World Series (11.48 million)” according to the Associated Press. Clark scored 41 points in that game.
But not all is roses for the women’s NCAA tournament. The games have been marred by several unforced errors that, if nothing else, have rubbed some of the shine off the accomplishments of the NCAA.
Indeed, the games and the players have exceeded expectations. However, the NCAA’s management of the tournament has raised questions about whether the Association is capable of taking the next big step for women’s sports.
Some of the team accommodations were a mystery. Utah played a game in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, but stayed in a hotel in Spokane, Wash. — 35 miles away. The Lady Utes were the target of some unpleasant heckling, including, they say, racist catcalls. Suffice it to say that the questions about why the women were staying so far from their opening round game remain answered.
Another incident occurred in the first-round game between Chattanooga and N.C. State in Raleigh, N.C. One of the referees had to be pulled from the game when it was discovered that she attended Chattanooga. Not a good look, NCAA.
Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo was forced to go to the bench at a crucial point in the game to remove her nose ring. Hidalgo, who was never informed of the rule that banned nose rings, was quoted as saying, “It’s tough because, you know, I was on a roll, and having to sit out for five minutes because of a nose ring is BS,” she said.
Oh, Hannah. That’s nothing.
The NCAA announced that five games were played in Portland, Ore., with mismatched 3-point lines. A contractor for the NCAA who set up the game made one three-point line nine inches short of regulation above the top of the key.
I could understand an inch or two, but nine? Really?
Sheesh.
“What happened with the court in Portland is inexcusable and unfair to every team that played on it,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, whose team lost in Portland, said in a statement to the Associated Press. “When you arrive at a gym, especially in the NCAA Tournament, at the very least you expect the baskets to be 10 feet and the floor markings to be correct. For an error of that magnitude to overshadow what has been an incredible two weekends of basketball featuring sensational teams and incredible individual performances is unacceptable and extremely upsetting.”
The NCAA uses Connor Sports to supply and install the courts. The NCAA said the marking used to draw the line at the top of the arc in the center of the court was too short. It did not identify the contractor that made the mistake.
“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 to members.
After reviewing the Portland court, it was found that the center hole was punched about 9 inches short of where it needed to be at the apex of the 3-point arc.
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“Connor Sports and the NCAA found the inaccurate line was the result of human error by the finisher contracted by Connor Sports,” Holzman said. “The review also found the sides of the 3-point line were accurately painted, as were all other court markings.”
Perhaps Connor Sports should get a participation trophy for drawing some of the lines correctly.
The NCAA has been working hard to fix inequalities between how it administers the men’s and women’s tournament games. I would say it has a long way to go.