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Re: Minnesota
SDSU makes every moment count in win
Officials spent several minutes reviewing the final play before ruling that a Jackrabbits player's layup was good.
By Jerry Zgoda, Star Tribune
Lost, then won and back again more than once, the Gophers women's basketball team's 59-58 nonconference loss to South Dakota State at Williams Arena delivered a frantic finish that paled compared to the controversial minutes that followed it.
Trailing by seven points with 19 minutes remaining, leading by seven with six minutes left, the Gophers finally watched victory become defeat in Sunday's final 3.5 seconds, and in the two minutes after that when the officials appeared to incorrectly apply an NCAA rule.
Ashley Ellis-Milan's two clutch free throws and a one-point Gophers lead were wiped away in those 3.5 seconds by not one, but two desperation plays by SDSU that provided victory precisely as time expired.
So precise, in fact, that the Gophers weren't sent off the floor in defeat and the Jackrabbits in victory until the game's three officials huddled around a television monitor at the edge of the old arena's raised floor.
With coaches looking on behind them, the officials conferred, then appeared to hand victory to the Gophers before ultimately deciding freshman forward Maria Boever's layup beat the buzzer.
The officials determined from replays and the rule book that the basket counted because the ball left Boever's hand before the backboard LED lights glowed red, even if it appeared to still be in her hand when the scoreboard clock read 0.0 an instant before.
"The lights are the determining factor," said official John Morningstar, removing a rule book from his bag. "It was the closest play I've ever seen."
Big Ten women's basketball coordinator of officials Patty Broderick requested a copy of the tape and she will investigate to determine whether the rule book was followed correctly. The officials applied one part of Rule 5, Section 7, but apparently did not consider a provision that states the scoreboard clock is the determining factor in games when there is a clock that measures tenths of a second and a courtside monitor is available.
"We want to make sure we absolutely get it right," Broderick said, acknowledging the game's outcome won't change either way but suggesting disciplinary action if the officials erred.
http://www.startribune.com/512/story/936745.html
SDSU makes every moment count in win
Officials spent several minutes reviewing the final play before ruling that a Jackrabbits player's layup was good.
By Jerry Zgoda, Star Tribune
Lost, then won and back again more than once, the Gophers women's basketball team's 59-58 nonconference loss to South Dakota State at Williams Arena delivered a frantic finish that paled compared to the controversial minutes that followed it.
Trailing by seven points with 19 minutes remaining, leading by seven with six minutes left, the Gophers finally watched victory become defeat in Sunday's final 3.5 seconds, and in the two minutes after that when the officials appeared to incorrectly apply an NCAA rule.
Ashley Ellis-Milan's two clutch free throws and a one-point Gophers lead were wiped away in those 3.5 seconds by not one, but two desperation plays by SDSU that provided victory precisely as time expired.
So precise, in fact, that the Gophers weren't sent off the floor in defeat and the Jackrabbits in victory until the game's three officials huddled around a television monitor at the edge of the old arena's raised floor.
With coaches looking on behind them, the officials conferred, then appeared to hand victory to the Gophers before ultimately deciding freshman forward Maria Boever's layup beat the buzzer.
The officials determined from replays and the rule book that the basket counted because the ball left Boever's hand before the backboard LED lights glowed red, even if it appeared to still be in her hand when the scoreboard clock read 0.0 an instant before.
"The lights are the determining factor," said official John Morningstar, removing a rule book from his bag. "It was the closest play I've ever seen."
Big Ten women's basketball coordinator of officials Patty Broderick requested a copy of the tape and she will investigate to determine whether the rule book was followed correctly. The officials applied one part of Rule 5, Section 7, but apparently did not consider a provision that states the scoreboard clock is the determining factor in games when there is a clock that measures tenths of a second and a courtside monitor is available.
"We want to make sure we absolutely get it right," Broderick said, acknowledging the game's outcome won't change either way but suggesting disciplinary action if the officials erred.
http://www.startribune.com/512/story/936745.html
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