NC State, Texas women play NCAA basketball game on court with incorrect measurements
N.C. State and Texas played Sunday for a berth in the NCAA Tournament’s women’s Final Four on a court with unequal measurements at each end.
NCAA officials in Portland discovered that the distance from the baseline to the top of the 3-point arc at one end of the Moda Center court is shorter than the other after using a tape measure before Sunday’s game. N.C. State coach Wes Moore and Texas coach Vic Schaefer both agreed to play on.
“Wes wanted to play, and we played,” Schaefer said in his postgame press conference, after Texas lost to NC State. “I wasn’t going to be the guy that goes, ‘No, I don’t want to do it.’ You want to know if I think it had anything to do with the game? Probably not, but I really would have loved to have done what I normally do my last 12 minutes before a game instead of walking around out there, trying to see if the floor’s screwed up.”
Tournament games were played on the court Friday and Saturday, including Duke’s 53-45 regional semifinal loss to Connecticut on Saturday night. The only change to the court from those games to Sunday’s N.C. State-Texas game was new lettering on the baseline for the Elite Eight. Schaefer said when the coaches analyzed it, both teams had already played on the court and won.
“I wish I hadn’t had known, to be honest with you,” Moore said in his post game press conference. “It was a tough call because it is a little bit of difference, but you’re also, like I said, looking at over an hour delay before they could get here.”
There were concerns about losing the ABC broadcast spot, as well. Saniya Rivers said, however, she couldn’t tell the difference.
“I think players are used to shooting pretty far behind the line, anyway,” Moore added. “It did take you out of your routine a little bit. I was kind of late being where I was supposed to be with the players and all, but it worked out, so everything’s good.”
Connecticut and Southern Cal will play their regional final game on the court Monday night to determine the final team in next week’s Final Four in Cleveland.
“The court will be corrected before tomorrow’s game in Portland,” NCAA vice president for women’s basketball Lynn Holzman said in a statement. “At the conclusion of tonight’s game and practice in Portland, the NCAA will be measuring all court lines and markings on the court at the Moda Center.”
The NCAA women’s 3-point distance is 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches. The NCAA’s statement did not address how the error was discovered or why the court had not previously been measured. The coaches were told it would take at least one hour to get someone to the arena and re-mark it.
“While the NCAA’s vendor has apologized for the error, we will investigate how this happened in the first place,” Holzman said. “The NCAA is working now to ensure the accuracy of all court markings for future games. We are not aware of any other issues at any of the prior sites for men’s or women’s tournament games. The NCAA regrets the error was not discovered sooner.”
A representative from Connor Sports, which provides the courts for both the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments, provided a statement to the News & Observer via email: “Connor Sports was informed today that a three-point arch was painted with an incorrect distance. We apologize for the error that was found and have technicians on site at the Moda Center in Portland who were instructed to make the necessary corrections immediately following today’s game.”
Both Moore and Schaefer walked off the distance themselves before Sunday’s game. During an interview with ESPN after the game’s first quarter, Moore acknowledged that they measured the court again, then declined to comment further.
During N.C. State’s first-round win over Chattanooga, official Tommi Paris was removed at halftime and replaced by an official from an earlier game after the NCAA belatedly discovered Paris had a degree from Chattanooga, which violates NCAA conflict-of-interest guidelines.
This story was originally published March 31, 2024 at 3:57 PM with the headline "NC State, Texas women play NCAA basketball game on court with incorrect measurements."
