Gary Apell of SNY said it best

[Nev]

Gary called it a conspiracy. Don't make that call at the end. Want Iowa to play in championship?

 

[MTHusky]

Gary called it a conspiracy. Don't make that call at the end. Want Iowa to play in championship?

NCAA wanted 2 teams from the p4 conferences and they managed to get them although it took them 39:50 minutes to accomplish it. Utter bull shat call

 

[KY Card Fan]

That sure looked like a bad call to me. But whenever there is a bad or missed call in WBB, MBB or NFL, the words "fixed" or "predetermined" or "orchestrated" get thrown around. If fans really believe that they should stop watching sports, because calls like that happen almost every game. Most not so obvious as this one, but almost every game. I prefer to view the results as a general poor group of WBB officials. I'm still reliving the 2018 Final Four when Myisha Hines-Allen got hip-checked on a game-winning layup with no foul called.

 

[Bone Dog]

Officiating is hard, and it gets even harder in April. The pressure on them is enormous. I don't mean to excuse a bad call and a generally poorly officiated game. That ref screwed up, and the rest of his team wasn't stellar. But I'm not surprised that they make mistakes. It's as easy to second guess them as it is difficult to avoid errors in the Final Four. I wouldn't have wanted to be in their shoes.

 

[Vowelguy]

Anybody who thinks it’s a conspiracy clearly has not been watching the years of incompetence by WCBB referees

 

[willie99]

Just a peabrain in over her head

Wants to a hero, embarrasses her friends and family

 

[Buzzyboy]

That sure looked like a bad call to me. But whenever there is a bad or missed call in WBB, MBB or NFL, the words "fixed" or "predetermined" or "orchestrated" get thrown around. If fans really believe that they should stop watching sports, because calls like that happen almost every game. Most not so obvious as this one, but almost every game. I prefer to view the results as a general poor group of WBB officials. I'm still reliving the 2018 Final Four when Myisha Hines-Allen got hip-checked on a game-winning layup with no foul called.

Not all calls are the same ... It's hard not to put the FIX argument on a call when you see all the incredible HYPE about Catlin Clark and Iowa ... you would almost not even known that UConn who has the most championships in Women's basketball history was playing in the lead up to this game .... It was Catlin, Catlin Catlin Greatest Etc etc etc and the bestest of all time .... hype hype hype on steroids and you are going to let UConn take away the possibity of maybe Catlin ending her career without a national championship??? The audacity .... if you think that the referee didn't consciously or unconsciously make that call because it suited the national championship hope of ESPN and a national audience, I've got a bridge for you .... That was a FIX if not a conscious one, definitely an unconscious one and UConn who is the class program in the annuals of women's basketball takes the hit because of Caitlin Clark being the GOAT in some people's eyes .... kind of ridiculous considering 99% of the country didn't know who she was until late last season and this one ... obviously she's a highly talented player but she's not a Maya Moore or a Diana Taurasi or a Breanna Stewart or Candace Parker or at least a dozen other former players but she became a media darling and so they need to give her a chance for a title to sell her biography as an ELITE

 

[Geesworld]

 

[Buzzyboy]

Anybody who thinks it’s a conspiracy clearly has not been watching the years of incompetence by WCBB referees

I have and yes, there is incompetence that occurs frequently but then there's also games where the officials give the fans or the MEDIA what they want, a possible national championship to the GOLDEN GIRL ... Would you want the Golden Girl to have her career end without the possibility of a national championship .... I think a lot of people would hate that possibility and I think there's some that are referees ....

 

[Buzzyboy]

Officiating is hard, and it gets even harder in April. The pressure on them is enormous. I don't mean to excuse a bad call and a generally poorly officiated game. That ref screwed up, and the rest of his team wasn't stellar. But I'm not surprised that they make mistakes. It's as easy to second guess them as it is difficult to avoid errors in the Final Four. I wouldn't have wanted to be in their shoes.

When the calls are pretty one sided, it gets people thinking that there's more going on then missed calls ... you did see the foul call someone showed where there was literally NO CONTACT at all, just an Iowa girl stumbling and how do you justify that???? I think everyone is TOO nice and that includes Geno and the girls, in their press conference after the game .... Paige deferred all the calls and took responsibility that she should have played better and that those type calls wouldn't have mattered .... TRUE CLASS

 

[Jimdish255]

Doesn't matter why or how. That was as manufactured a game deciding call I've ever seen in a Final Four Game men's or women's. The referee stole the game away from the players. Utter incompetence if not outright bias. You have to want to make that call really bad.

 

[fomalhaut]

The typical game probably has 100 fouls in it, most of which aren't called.

 

[maple]

They should be fired for this alone.

 

[hoophuskee]

They should be fired for this alone.

Which ref made that call? DIfferent ref I hope.

 

[OviedoFLHusky]

I am going to try to stick to facts here:

UConn was called for literally twice as many fouls as Iowa tonight (18 vs. 9).

Several basketball "professionals" (i.e., basketball is a major part of their job) have publicly decried that moving screen call that changed the course of the game, including LeBron James, Andraya Carter of ESPN, John Fanta, Joe D'Ambrosio, and several Husky alumns who played in the NBA and/or WNBA. One might think that they'd know what they were talking about. (Article: Social media reacts to offensive foul call against UConn’s Aaliyah Edwards in Final Four)

Historically, the NCAA and UConn have not had a "friendly" relationship. Shabazz Napier's "Hungry Huskies" story comes to mind, as well as the filthy hotel rooms that the UConn men encountered during their Final Four last year.

This year, the NCAA made travel arrangements for the Final Four men's teams (I don't know how the women's travel was handled). I quote the Hartford Courant as to what happened:

The Huskies ... were stuck on campus waiting out a 5 1/2 hour delay in their flight to Arizona Wednesday night before a plane was made available. Once on board, they were delayed another two hours, due to minor mechanical issues and the need to de-ice the plane, and finally took off just past 1:30 a.m. Thursday. They landed in Phoenix 3:14 a.m. Pacific time, 6:14 a.m. Eastern. It is likely their schedule of practices and press conferences will have to be adjusted, and they lose time to get acclimated to the time difference. (Article: Final-Four-bound UConn men encountered long travel delay, arrived in Phoenix in the wee hours)

On top of that, the UConn men got double beds and roommates in their hotel rooms -- while other teams in the Final Four got king-size beds and single occupancies -- courtesy of the NCAA. (UCONN Doesn’t Have a Plane to Get to Phoenix (Merged Thread) , beginning at post #385)

This season, we have seen with our own eyes over and over how poor the officiating is in both the men and women's games -- and more frequently or not, the errors have been made to UConn's detriment. We've also seen officials suddenly start calling fouls on UConn opponents in the second half of games -- and when we look at the box scores, gee, the fouls look pretty even! But were those calls fair, or by design?

Is there a conspiracy? No? Then what do the facts cited above, indicate?

 

[Veteran]

When the game started, I was certain that I would root against South Carolina no matter what. Not anymore.

 

[huskeynut]

I am going to try to stick to facts here:

UConn was called for literally twice as many fouls as Iowa tonight (18 vs. 9).

Several basketball "professionals" (i.e., basketball is a major part of their job) have publicly decried that moving screen call that changed the course of the game, including LeBron James, Andraya Carter of ESPN, John Fanta, Joe D'Ambrosio, and several Husky alumns who played in the NBA and/or WNBA. One might think that they'd know what they were talking about. (Article: Social media reacts to offensive foul call against UConn’s Aaliyah Edwards in Final Four)

Historically, the NCAA and UConn have not had a "friendly" relationship. Shabazz Napier's "Hungry Huskies" story comes to mind, as well as the filthy hotel rooms that the UConn men encountered during their Final Four last year.

This year, the NCAA made travel arrangements for the Final Four men's teams (I don't know how the women's travel was handled). I quote the Hartford Courant as to what happened:

The Huskies ... were stuck on campus waiting out a 5 1/2 hour delay in their flight to Arizona Wednesday night before a plane was made available. Once on board, they were delayed another two hours, due to minor mechanical issues and the need to de-ice the plane, and finally took off just past 1:30 a.m. Thursday. They landed in Phoenix 3:14 a.m. Pacific time, 6:14 a.m. Eastern. It is likely their schedule of practices and press conferences will have to be adjusted, and they lose time to get acclimated to the time difference. (Article: Final-Four-bound UConn men encountered long travel delay, arrived in Phoenix in the wee hours)

On top of that, the UConn men got double beds and roommates in their hotel rooms -- while other teams in the Final Four got king-size beds and single occupancies -- courtesy of the NCAA. (UCONN Doesn’t Have a Plane to Get to Phoenix (Merged Thread) , beginning at post #385)

This season, we have seen with our own eyes over and over how poor the officiating is in both the men and women's games -- and more frequently or not, the errors have been made to UConn's detriment. We've also seen officials suddenly start calling fouls on UConn opponents in the second half of games -- and when we look at the box scores, gee, the fouls look pretty even! But were those calls fair, or by design?

Is there a conspiracy? No? Then what do the facts cited above, indicate?

I'm not into conspearicies but it's ABC - Anybody But Connecticut.

 

[2014DualCs]

The thing that blows my mind is how painfully worse the WCBB refs are than Men’s. You’re allowed to make bad calls. It’s life, it happens. But the phantom calls and especially the offensive foul call at the end are BRUTAL.

I can’t fathom the offensive foul call with 3 sec left with ball in Paige Bueckers hands to beat Caitlin Clark… it totally delegitimizes the rest of the tournament in my eyes.

If it were a men’s FF game, there would be an uproar if the refs decided the game like that. There would need to be a CLOTHESLINE, TACKLE, or BODY CHECK of some sort for them to call an offensive foul in that situation. The refs legit got so worried that Iowa was gonna lose (very well could’ve STILL WON if they let the play develop naturally) that they called an offensive foul on perfectly legal screen. So egregious that the only conclusion you can draw up is that ESPN / NCAA perfectly crafted their national championship.

I won’t be watching the national championship. spits towards ESPN / NCAA

 

[good2go]

I'm not into conspearicies but it's ABC - Anybody But Connecticut.

I agree.

 

[Skeets]

Numerous bad calls against UConn. I would have to rewatch the game but I can't recall a single bad call against Iowa. Fix? This game transcends ineptitude.

 

[Hankster]

Not all calls are the same ... It's hard not to put the FIX argument on a call when you see all the incredible HYPE about Catlin Clark and Iowa ... you would almost not even known that UConn who has the most championships in Women's basketball history was playing in the lead up to this game .... It was Catlin, Catlin Catlin Greatest Etc etc etc and the bestest of all time .... hype hype hype on steroids and you are going to let UConn take away the possibity of maybe Catlin ending her career without a national championship??? The audacity .... if you think that the referee didn't consciously or unconsciously make that call because it suited the national championship hope of ESPN and a national audience, I've got a bridge for you .... That was a FIX if not a conscious one, definitely an unconscious one and UConn who is the class program in the annuals of women's basketball takes the hit because of Caitlin Clark being the GOAT in some people's eyes .... kind of ridiculous considering 99% of the country didn't know who she was until late last season and this one ... obviously she's a highly talented player but she's not a Maya Moore or a Diana Taurasi or a Breanna Stewart or Candace Parker or at least a dozen other former players but she became a media darling and so they need to give her a chance for a title to sell her biography as an ELITE

I rarely comment, However I agree what you said 100%. She will not be denied. Look at the foul discrepancies the past two playoff games. Going to be interesting. Let see how Dawn handles the championship game.

 

[WiseWillie]

Officiating is hard, and it gets even harder in April. The pressure on them is enormous. I don't mean to excuse a bad call and a generally poorly officiated game. That ref screwed up, and the rest of his team wasn't stellar. But I'm not surprised that they make mistakes. It's as easy to second guess them as it is difficult to avoid errors in the Final Four. I wouldn't have wanted to be in their shoes.

Officiating is hard, and it gets even harder in April. The pressure on them is enormous. I don't mean to excuse a bad call and a generally poorly officiated game. That ref screwed up, and the rest of his team wasn't stellar. But I'm not surprised that they make mistakes. It's as easy to second guess them as it is difficult to avoid errors in the Final Four. I wouldn't have wanted to be in their shoes.

Let me get out my violin. That call at that time was absolutely wrong. An experienced - competent - official would never have called that. They would let the game be decided by the players and the called play by the coach. In the business world, someone who made such a comparable egregious mistake may have been fired or demoted. And as long as we are in the "sour grapes" arena, the NCAA should set up a panel of coaches, officials and others to come up with specific recommendations to improve the officials and officiating across the board. Alright, got that off my chest.

Feel really bad for these UConn women who gave it their all this entire year. They made it to the Final Four when not many gave them the chance. They should look at this year as a definite positive and not the way it unfortunately ended,

 

[ABCDFE]

Anybody who thinks it’s a conspiracy clearly has not been watching the years of incompetence by WCBB referees

There have been some games with wide free throw differentials with UConn teams in the past that have absolutely cost them those games. Not all games but there have been some and I can say suspicion is warranted.

 

[cohenzone]

I don’t know about conspiracies. That was a god awful call. No guarantee, however that we would have scored. As far as the foul difference goes, the idea that Clark would live at the foul line didn’t happen. The one glaring non call was a push off by her on, I think KK, that created separation for a foul line jumper. 2 if her 5 foul shots were when we had to foul on their last possession. It was Stuelke who was the reason for the foul shot difference and she pretty much did whatever she wanted on O. For my money, we had far too many possessions where Paige never touched the ball. And on some of those someone else shot too early in the possession. That was not on the refs.

Anyway, great season under all the circumstances and we will never know how we might have done vs. SC. Count me as one who would like to see Iowa win. SC is much more of a recruiting rival.

 

[Ct Dog]

Terrible look for WBB, there were a lot of new viewers for the games last night and the Ref made it look like a fix at the end of the game…. intentionally or not……. Better days ahead and i’m so proud of our Girls