Portland, Oregon – Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer expressed frustration over a measurement error that shortened the 3-point line at one end of the court during the first five games of the women’s NCAA Tournament’s Portland regional. VanDerveer called the error “inexcusable and unfair to every team that played on it.”
VanDerveer emphasized the importance of accurate court markings, especially during the NCAA Tournament, where precision is expected. The error was discovered ahead of the Elite Eight game between USC and Connecticut, prompting the NCAA to correct the issue before tip-off.
The NCAA attributed the error to a contractor from Connor Sports, the official vendor of the tournament courts since 2006, labeling it a “human error.” The incorrect line was painted to match the wood grain of the floor, while the accurate 3-point line distance of 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches is marked in black.
Although the mistake only affected the apex of the 3-point line, coaches from NC State and Texas confirmed that it did not impact their teams’ performances. NC State shot 50 percent from beyond the arc, while Texas coach Vic Schaefer did not attribute his team’s struggles to the measurement error.
A statistical analysis was sent to teams by the NCAA to assess the impact of the incorrect line. Despite Stanford’s 5-of-25 shooting from behind the arc in their loss to NC State, the NCAA labeled the issue as an “isolated incident,” affirming that other courts used in the tournament were accurate.
The NCAA apologized for the oversight, acknowledging the error went unnoticed for an extended period. Moving forward, they plan to implement additional quality control measures to prevent similar incidents in future tournaments, aiming to maintain the integrity of the game and ensure fairness for all teams involved.