I was at the game. The court announcers did announce the basket had been removed before the 2nd quarter started. The TV announcers clearly didn't know it; the score on the TV screen changed a minute and a half after the start of the second quarter.
TL;DR: Was it fair to remove the basket? Probably. Was it by the rules? Yes.
I played the video on my TV, recorded the video with my phone, and then counted frames. I confirmed 60 frames from 3.0 to 1.0 on the TV clock. From the time she got the ball to when it left her hand, there were 122 frames, or 4.07 seconds. She only had at most 3.69 seconds to shoot. So, fair from that view. On the other hand, she heard the countdown and could see the clock. She let the ball go with about 0.3 seconds on the clock. Fair to not count it? No.
The time shown on the TV screen is not the official time. As stated by others, there was time left on the clock when she released the ball. I had a stop-frame where the ball was leaving her hand at 00.3 by the official clock, but 00.8 on the TV clock.
I don't know if the officials see the video sent out to the masses, or whether there is a different feed of some sort that might have the official clock showing.
So the ruling had to be something else -- like a late start of the game clock. But, what rule gives the refs the authority/requirement to remove a goal scored during live play? As stated above, the rules are somewhat vague. So, I went to the 2025 and the 2023 case books. Surely something as common as this would b3 covered, but it wasn't.
In looking at the rules about time expiration, the first thing to notice is the rules about the shot clock expiration are not applicable. Rule 5 Section 12, Timing mistakes and Malfunctions, is also explicitly not applicable when replay equipment is available. So, we're left with Rule 11 on Replay.
In Rule 11, "Art. 3. An on-screen game-clock display on the replay system may be used only
when the clock display is synchronized with the official game clock."
You see some instances of the official game clock above the basket. These can be compared to the TV clock. As I said above, the official and on-screen clocks were not synchronized. Indeed, you could say this shows the TV clock started about 0.4 to 0.5 seconds late, relative to the official game clock.
By the way, you can see the official nearest the camera reaching back to the device he carries to start the clock when she receives the ball. There isn't enough resolution to see when he actually signals for the clock to start. But the start of the clock was his responsibility, I believe. This is no home-town time keeper starting the clock a tad late.
The TV broadcast does not show the official game clock from the free throw to just before the shot. So we can not use it to know when it started.
A "stopwatch embedded in the replay equipment" is such an archaic reference. Why not use a sun dial? The video is going to have a timecode, which should be able to be displayed. Then you can just subtract two numbers rather than having to start and stop a stopwatch, and you can pause or step the video to get the right spot. I counted frames which should be the same (modulo all the processing between their recording and my recording).
Ok, so now, what rule?
There are various references to time expiring on the game clock. I think that technically is different than "the expiration of time". In this case, I believe the rule used should have been Rule 5-1.16
There is a permissible (not required) use of replay rule 11-3.1.g to review for erroneously counting or canceling a score (a correctable error per rule 2-12.1.e, but there must be a rule (here, 5-1.16) that applies).
There is a permitted use of replay rule 11-3.1.i about determining if there was a mistake in starting or stopping the game clock. In the expansion verbiage on the rule, there is no mention of scoring or fouls, only that the error (time correction) must be applied at the first dead ball (here, the end of the quarter).
A coach may also appeal about 11-3.1.g or 11-3.1.i. From what one person here said, I presume the coach made no such appeal.
The refs had to review that the ball left her hand before the clock showed 00.0, but they were not required to review that time had already expired.
TL;DR: Was it fair to remove the basket? Probably. Was it by the rules? Yes.
I played the video on my TV, recorded the video with my phone, and then counted frames. I confirmed 60 frames from 3.0 to 1.0 on the TV clock. From the time she got the ball to when it left her hand, there were 122 frames, or 4.07 seconds. She only had at most 3.69 seconds to shoot. So, fair from that view. On the other hand, she heard the countdown and could see the clock. She let the ball go with about 0.3 seconds on the clock. Fair to not count it? No.
The time shown on the TV screen is not the official time. As stated by others, there was time left on the clock when she released the ball. I had a stop-frame where the ball was leaving her hand at 00.3 by the official clock, but 00.8 on the TV clock.
I don't know if the officials see the video sent out to the masses, or whether there is a different feed of some sort that might have the official clock showing.
So the ruling had to be something else -- like a late start of the game clock. But, what rule gives the refs the authority/requirement to remove a goal scored during live play? As stated above, the rules are somewhat vague. So, I went to the 2025 and the 2023 case books. Surely something as common as this would b3 covered, but it wasn't.
In looking at the rules about time expiration, the first thing to notice is the rules about the shot clock expiration are not applicable. Rule 5 Section 12, Timing mistakes and Malfunctions, is also explicitly not applicable when replay equipment is available. So, we're left with Rule 11 on Replay.
In Rule 11, "Art. 3. An on-screen game-clock display on the replay system may be used only
when the clock display is synchronized with the official game clock."
You see some instances of the official game clock above the basket. These can be compared to the TV clock. As I said above, the official and on-screen clocks were not synchronized. Indeed, you could say this shows the TV clock started about 0.4 to 0.5 seconds late, relative to the official game clock.
By the way, you can see the official nearest the camera reaching back to the device he carries to start the clock when she receives the ball. There isn't enough resolution to see when he actually signals for the clock to start. But the start of the clock was his responsibility, I believe. This is no home-town time keeper starting the clock a tad late.
The TV broadcast does not show the official game clock from the free throw to just before the shot. So we can not use it to know when it started.
Quote:Art. 4. Officials may use the digital stopwatch available at the scorers’ table or
a stopwatch embedded in the replay equipment as long as the video is unaltered
and played at normal game speed.
A "stopwatch embedded in the replay equipment" is such an archaic reference. Why not use a sun dial? The video is going to have a timecode, which should be able to be displayed. Then you can just subtract two numbers rather than having to start and stop a stopwatch, and you can pause or step the video to get the right spot. I counted frames which should be the same (modulo all the processing between their recording and my recording).
Ok, so now, what rule?
There are various references to time expiring on the game clock. I think that technically is different than "the expiration of time". In this case, I believe the rule used should have been Rule 5-1.16
Quote:Whether the game clock is running or stopped shall have no bearing
on the counting of a goal as long as the ball was released before the expiration
of time.
There is a permissible (not required) use of replay rule 11-3.1.g to review for erroneously counting or canceling a score (a correctable error per rule 2-12.1.e, but there must be a rule (here, 5-1.16) that applies).
There is a permitted use of replay rule 11-3.1.i about determining if there was a mistake in starting or stopping the game clock. In the expansion verbiage on the rule, there is no mention of scoring or fouls, only that the error (time correction) must be applied at the first dead ball (here, the end of the quarter).
A coach may also appeal about 11-3.1.g or 11-3.1.i. From what one person here said, I presume the coach made no such appeal.
The refs had to review that the ball left her hand before the clock showed 00.0, but they were not required to review that time had already expired.