[M T]

Wow, what a relief to get at least one win on this incredibly difficult road trip.  The bad officiating continues, and these officials were not even among the worst.  One can only hope that the bad calls even out over the course of the game, but we benefited from two bad calls and Utah benefited from one bad call in the last couple of minutes, so I see how the Utah fans feel robbed.

I disagree if you are asserting that Iriafen didn't have her hand on the ball when a held ball was called at Q4 04.4.  It is in the video from the end line.  This held ball actually fits the rule (below).  It was called by the ref (Michol Murray) on the bench side of the court who would have a view of it.

Note the shoulder into Iriafen's chest.

You missed another officiating favor to Utah at the end of the game.  With 1.9 seconds on the clock, Utah throws the ball in, Iriafen intercepts it over her head (ie, higher than 6'3") and blocks it out of bounds, but only 0.3 goes off the clock.  The clock starts when Iriafen touches the ball and ends when the ref blows the whistle, which is supposed to be when the ball touches something out of bounds, usually the ground.  Assume 0.3 seconds is right. On earth, the ball will fall 1.5 feet.  Who touched it 4.75 feet above the floor???   If it falls 6 feet, it will take 0.6 seconds.
(Too bad Iriafen didn't just knock it 16 feet up as time would expire before it got into someone's hands (1 second up, 1 second down).)  [Indeed, there is a rule(!) that indicates that (in the last minute) the minimum the clock can advance when the ball is legally touched inbounds is 0.3 seconds!]

To the quality of the video in my replay, it appears there was a double dribble by Pili with 7.0 seconds on the clock as she spins and switches from dribbling with the left hand to dribbling with the right hand. It appears she has both hands on the ball as she spins.  I would defer to a better capture than what Sling presents.

At Q4 4:10, Jump's arm gets fouled on a shot but no call. (The hand on her arm is visible just before the release.)

At Q4 5:07, if that wasn't a held ball, then why wasn't it a double dribble?

At Q4 9:12, Utah #3 grabs and pulls Harriel's right arm back by 8" with 2 hands because she was beat on a screen.  Harriel puts up an awkward left handed shot, but Murray doesn't call the obvious foul(?!)  Even on a playground, that's a foul.



Earlier in the game, I don't understand why the refs didn't call a charge on Pili at Q2 7:21. She just bowled over Iriafen.

etc. etc.

As for Brink's second foul call (Q1 1:11), I see no rule that makes that illegal. The second closest is approaching from behind (10.2.6), but the closest is (10.2.2) "incidental contact of two players in equally favorable position to perform normal defensive or offensive movement, should be permitted though the contact may be severe".  Murray called the foul against Utah. Some other ref must have overruled her.  It should have been waved off, not reversed.

(Regarding Iriafen's position on the last Utah FG of Q1.  The restricted area is ONLY under the "basket" not under the backboard. "Under the basket" is defined as from the front and side of the ring to the front of the backboard." So, basically, under the rim (or straddling it))

It felt to me that most of the major bad calls were made by Tyler Trimble (the male official) that Tara was talking to before the game.  That early interaction left me puzzled. It seemed to start friendly, but at the end Tara looked clearly upset.  Does anyone read lips?

An obvious error by him was his call of a held ball.  Here are some rules:

Art. 2. A held ball occurs when an opponent places their hand(s):
    a. So firmly on the ball that control cannot be obtained without undue roughness
--
Art. 2. It shall be legal for a defender to accidentally hit the hand of a ball-
handler when reaching to block or slap the ball when there is player control with
that player’s hand in contact with the ball and when that player is:
a. A dribbler;
b. Attempting a try for field goal; or
c. Holding the ball.
--
Art. 11. A dribbler shall neither charge into nor contact an opponent in the
dribbler’s path, nor attempt to dribble between two opponents or between an
opponent and a boundary, unless the space is sufficient to provide a reasonable
chance for the dribbler to pass through without contact.

----
On the blocked inbounds, the pass was going to Pili on the far side of the bucket in a good position for a two.

By the way, on the final shot, Pili was looking to pass to the near corner, but Jump was on the player there.
Brink's presence must have influenced the shot, if she didn't touch it.  The consecutive (before, after) frames I have don't clearly show she touched it (but she's close), but it looks to me like the ball has a bit of a sideways spin which a shooter like Pili wouldn't do.  So I believe she got a fingernail on it.


Stanford had a number of plays with players standing around at the end.  Exhaustion impacting their thinking?  I usually appreciate Lepolo, but she didn't dribble away from the defense when she had a chance.

Some day, when the clock is down to under 4 seconds, I'd like to see a player on the team with the lead just roll the ball toward the far end line.  The coach might die of a heart attack, but it would take about 5 seconds for the ball to get out of bounds.  The defenders would not expect it and would not likely catch up to it (and even if they did, they'd take at least a second to pick it up and shoot).  The clock won't stop until it is out of bounds or an offensive player touches it in the back court.   But, if you're down to 2 seconds and have a tall roof, toss it up.

Iriafen had a great offensive game.  But the players she was supposed to be guarding got really good looks.

Bosgana should have been credited with a block at Q1 4:49.

[M T]

Wow, what a relief to get at least one win on this incredibly difficult road trip.  The bad officiating continues, and these officials were not even among the worst.  One can only hope that the bad calls even out over the course of the game, but we benefited from two bad calls and Utah benefited from one bad call in the last couple of minutes, so I see how the Utah fans feel robbed.

I disagree if you are asserting that Iriafen didn't have her hand on the ball when a held ball was called at Q4 04.4.  It is in the video from the end line.  This held ball actually fits the rule (below).  It was called by the ref (Michol Murray) on the bench side of the court who would have a view of it.

Note the shoulder into Iriafen's chest.

You missed another officiating favor to Utah at the end of the game.  With 1.9 seconds on the clock, Utah throws the ball in, Iriafen intercepts it over her head (ie, higher than 6'3") and blocks it out of bounds, but only 0.3 goes off the clock.  The clock starts when Iriafen touches the ball and ends when the ref blows the whistle, which is supposed to be when the ball touches something out of bounds, usually the ground.  Assume 0.3 seconds is right. On earth, the ball will fall 1.5 feet.  Who touched it 4.75 feet above the floor???   If it falls 6 feet, it will take 0.6 seconds.
(Too bad Iriafen didn't just knock it 16 feet up as time would expire before it got into someone's hands (1 second up, 1 second down).)  [Indeed, there is a rule(!) that indicates that (in the last minute) the minimum the clock can advance when the ball is legally touched inbounds is 0.3 seconds!]

To the quality of the video in my replay, it appears there was a double dribble by Pili with 7.0 seconds on the clock as she spins and switches from dribbling with the left hand to dribbling with the right hand. It appears she has both hands on the ball as she spins.  I would defer to a better capture than what Sling presents.

At Q4 4:10, Jump's arm gets fouled on a shot but no call. (The hand on her arm is visible just before the release.)

At Q4 5:07, if that wasn't a held ball, then why wasn't it a double dribble?

At Q4 9:12, Utah #3 grabs and pulls Harriel's right arm back by 8" with 2 hands because she was beat on a screen.  Harriel puts up an awkward left handed shot, but Murray doesn't call the obvious foul(?!)  Even on a playground, that's a foul.



Earlier in the game, I don't understand why the refs didn't call a charge on Pili at Q2 7:21. She just bowled over Iriafen.

etc. etc.

As for Brink's second foul call (Q1 1:11), I see no rule that makes that illegal. The second closest is approaching from behind (10.2.6), but the closest is (10.2.2) "incidental contact of two players in equally favorable position to perform normal defensive or offensive movement, should be permitted though the contact may be severe".  Murray called the foul against Utah. Some other ref must have overruled her.  It should have been waved off, not reversed.

(Regarding Iriafen's position on the last Utah FG of Q1.  The restricted area is ONLY under the "basket" not under the backboard. "Under the basket" is defined as from the front and side of the ring to the front of the backboard." So, basically, under the rim (or straddling it))

It felt to me that most of the major bad calls were made by Tyler Trimble (the male official) that Tara was talking to before the game.  That early interaction left me puzzled. It seemed to start friendly, but at the end Tara looked clearly upset.  Does anyone read lips?

An obvious error by him was his call of a held ball.  Here are some rules:

Art. 2. A held ball occurs when an opponent places their hand(s):
    a. So firmly on the ball that control cannot be obtained without undue roughness
--
Art. 2. It shall be legal for a defender to accidentally hit the hand of a ball-
handler when reaching to block or slap the ball when there is player control with
that player’s hand in contact with the ball and when that player is:
a. A dribbler;
b. Attempting a try for field goal; or
c. Holding the ball.
--
Art. 11. A dribbler shall neither charge into nor contact an opponent in the
dribbler’s path, nor attempt to dribble between two opponents or between an
opponent and a boundary, unless the space is sufficient to provide a reasonable
chance for the dribbler to pass through without contact.

----
On the blocked inbounds, the pass was going to Pili on the far side of the bucket in a good position for a two.

By the way, on the final shot, Pili was looking to pass to the near corner, but Jump was on the player there.
Brink's presence must have influenced the shot, if she didn't touch it.  The consecutive (before, after) frames I have don't clearly show she touched it (but she's close), but it looks to me like the ball has a bit of a sideways spin which a shooter like Pili wouldn't do.  So I believe she got a fingernail on it.


Stanford had a number of plays with players standing around at the end.  Exhaustion impacting their thinking?  I usually appreciate Lepolo, but she didn't dribble away from the defense when she had a chance.

Some day, when the clock is down to under 4 seconds, I'd like to see a player on the team with the lead just roll the ball toward the far end line.  The coach might die of a heart attack, but it would take about 5 seconds for the ball to get out of bounds.  The defenders would not expect it and would not likely catch up to it (and even if they did, they'd take at least a second to pick it up and shoot).  The clock won't stop until it is out of bounds or an offensive player touches it in the back court.   But, if you're down to 2 seconds and have a tall roof, toss it up.

Iriafen had a great offensive game.  But the players she was supposed to be guarding got really good looks.

Bosgana should have been credited with a block at Q1 4:49.