The NCAA women’s basketball tournament was confronted with a unique situation on Sunday when officials discovered that the two three-point lines at opposing ends of the Moda Center in Portland—which was just minutes away from hosting to the Elite Eight matchup between Texas and North Carolina State—were different lengths. Announcers on the broadcast relayed the news to the public shortly before tip-off, saying that both coaches had been made aware of the situation and agreed to go ahead with the game anyway. The court in question had been used for a number of other games in the tournament already. At halftime, the NCAA acknowledged the odd situation in a brief statement, but did not disclose how it came to be—or how big the discrepancy was. “The NCAA was notified today that the three-point lines on the court at Moda Center in Portland are not the same distances,” the statement read. “The two head coaches were made aware of the discrepancy and elected to play a complete game on the court as is, rather than correcting the court and delaying the game. The court will be corrected before tomorrow’s game in Portland.”
The three-point lines are different on each side of the court in Portland for the Elite Eight. The NCAA measured pregame and confirmed one side is a different three-point length than the other. 🤦
