The 3-Point Lines For Texas-NC State Women's Elite 8 Game Were Different Lengths

The NC State Wolfpack and Texas Longhorns women’s basketball teams ran into an unorthodox problem before their Elite 8 matchup.

Before the game started, Wolfpack head coach Wes Moore and Longhorns coach Vic Schaefer examined the court at the Moda Center in Portland, OR, and noticed that something was off. They believed that there was a difference on how far the 3-point lines were from the hoop, and asked court officials to take a look for themselves.

Turns out, both the head coaches were on to something. 

After officials grabbed their tape measure (a move which had shades of "Hoosiers" in it), the officials did confirm the coach's observation. The 3-point lines were indeed different lengths (they are supposed to be 22 feet, 1 ¾ inches). While no official numbers were given, there was a noticeable discrepancy.

You apparently didn’t need a tape measure to spot the difference either. The Athletic tweeted out an aerial view of the court from the nosebleeds, and the lines were noticeably inconsistent.

The officials talked it over with the two coaches, asking if they wanted to continue the game. Wishing to avoid any further delays, both Moore and Schaefer agreed that they would play the game for a spot in the Final Four.

Chiney Ogwumike, an ESPN analysis who was a star women's basketball player in college, applauded the girls for being willing to play on.

"I wanna give credit to the women's game. Because I'm fortunate to also call a lot of NBA games. And in regular season games, we've seen the rim off. The 3-point line. They stop and say, 'We won't play," Oqwumike said. "These women are showing up and saying, 'No matter what, we're here for March Madness, and we're showing up. And we're playing despite the discrepancies.' So, a lot of kudos to these ladies out there and the coaches for keeping them calm, too."

The NCAA released a statement on that matter, saying it would address the situation tomorrow.

The good news about this situation is that both teams will have to play offense on each side of the court for half of the game. As such, no team is given a competitive advantage over the other. Still, that’s a bad look for whoever assembled the hardwood.

It apparently didn’t affect Texas’ approach to the game all that much either. With roughly 8 minutes to go in the third quarter, Texas had only attempted 6 3-pointers, compared to NC State’s 18. The Wolfpack punched a ticket to the Final Four with a 76-66 win.