Gary Apell of SNY said it best

[Florida Fan]

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

Improbable, we could afix that adjective to the whole game. That Uconn got there was improbable and wonderful. That the Huskies had a legiitmate shot at winning with just a few seconds and the ball was beyond belief. Then the call. But we had no business being in that spot, and yet there we were. The later picture of the push showed Edwards fighting off Marshall's attempt to get past her moving screen. Improbable, that call. The whole game was improbable. After all our injuries, I'm proud of our improbable presence there.

 

[Rowdy831]

Iowa played a great second half of basketball yesterday with the best player in the country leading the team. They got several calls that went their way and they had one push off that was pretty obvious that wasn't called. A role player thoroughly outplayed and AA and when the dust settled UConn was on rebound on a missed free throw from having a chance to win in the end.

In a game a team has dozens of opportunities to make a difference in the game that goes unnoticed while a call at the end can be blamed for everything. That is the reason most officials "swallow their whistles" at the end of a game because they don't want the blame for affection the outcome of an unperfect game. In the end UConn had a couple chances and simply didn't execute to their normal level and they got beat by a very talented team.

 

[UConniki]

All you want in sports is a fair change to win the game. That was taken away. They made sure that with the game on the line we would not be given the opportunity to win. We live in Florida and watched the game at a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant which was packed and after the game ended the manager came over ( who’s not a UConn fan ) and said there’s no way they were going to let CC lose. It was decided that she was going to play for the championship ( ratings?) and when UConn miraculously got the ball with a chance to win in the final seconds they did what they needed to do.

 

[Honeybadger]

I spent some time in the middle of the night looking at Iowa’s box scores for the season. I had to go all the way back to their first game of the season (in which they beat Fairleigh Dickinson by 56 points) to find another game in which Iowa committed single digit fouls. UConn’s four free throws were the fewest of any opponent this season.

 

[AnonChoice]

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

Exactly.

 

[Superhuskies]

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

UC STILL had to score if no call was made..... and maybe stop Iowa last second shot, especially if they had a timeout to advance the bal

 

[GoUconn7961]

What's interesting is usually on social media UConn is being vilified. Today I've seen more posts about the game being taken from them and putting an asterisk on Iowa's "win"

I don't usually root for SC - but you can bet I will be tomorrow.

 

[psconn]

The real crime in that call was NOT that it took the win away from UConn. The real crime is that the ref took the game away from the players.

This was a really good, close, hard-fought game and, win or lose, THAT is what we would have been talking about on a national scale today. Instead, Sports Center's lead after the game is about the dang call.

Whether UConn scores or not, the stories would be all about the game, the players and the coaches NOT about a refs bad decision. Might be sad for us, but is worse for WCBB as a whole.

 

[cabbie191]

First, the call against KK on this play has no impact on the call against Edwards except to fuel feelings some have that the game was fixed.

That said, the broadcast after the announcers questioned the foul on KK showed the play from a difficult angle and there was contact. In my opinion, it was absolutely incidental and in no way impeded the shooters drive to the basket. I would have let it pass.

As others have said, it isn’t whether or not Edwards committed a foul - common sense dictates there are times and circumstances when a ref should swallow the whistle on an incidental infraction and this was one of them.

For comparison, would purists want a police officer to detain a driver going two miles over the speed limit while transporting a person suffering from a heart attack to the hospital? Certainly within the legal right of the officer but in my opinion, not the right decision.

 

[tower1]

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.

No use trying to defend a ref. I think they make too many touch fouls that don't deserve to be called. It's almost like they are competing to see which one gets the most calls. Especially late in the game, don't decide the game !!! Let the players decide no one wants to see you everyone wants to see the players !!!

 

[hoophuskee]

The real crime in that call was NOT that it took the win away from UConn. The real crime is that the ref took the game away from the players.

This was a really good, close, hard-fought game and, win or lose, THAT is what we would have been talking about on a national scale today. Instead, Sports Center's lead after the game is about the dang call.

Whether UConn scores or not, the stories would be all about the game, the players and the coaches NOT about a refs bad decision. Might be sad for us, but is worse for WCBB as a whole.

IMO those that try to justify the call miss the very points you cite.

 

[David54]

Officials make bad calls because they are incompetent or just human at times. They may at times bow to preconceived beliefs about certain players or certain teams and their tendencies but I’ve never believed that bad calls are a conspiracy of a network, a league, or any entity. Frankly I think that’s ridiculous.

 

[Terrierdog]

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

So we believe the conspiracy theory? I'm having a hard time deciding how viable that explanation is.

 

[Zinethar]

I'm not a conspiracy guy but I believe that in general the way that women's games are called is way different than men's games with roughly the same rules. I personally don't like the current look of the men's games but watched all of UConn men's tournament games. I heard and saw very few complaints about the refs. They were consistent for the most part. That is what you want. Players will conform to what the game officials consider callable fouls as long as they are consistent throughout the game.

One glaring difference was in the women's games the reaction to incidental contact is glaringly different. They often look like they were hammered. They try to sell the fouls. That has to be a reaction to how things are being called. I see less flopping. Not because the rules were tightened but because refs are most often just ignoring it. So it stops. On that last screen - was it a foul - maybe but the defensive player reacted as if hr head had been taken off (I could not see anything that caused that reaction). Apparently a good job by her because it worked. If officials stop being swayed by those overreactions than it will be easier to call real fouls.

 

[Centerstream]

No use trying to defend a ref. I think they make too many touch fouls that don't deserve to be called. It's almost like they are competing to see which one gets the most calls. Especially late in the game, don't decide the game !!! Let the players decide no one wants to see you everyone wants to see the players !!!

Kind of a swerve I guess, but when officials are graded, like for post season games, who is responsible for the grading and what do they use for criteria?
(Not specifically directed to tower1.)

 

[uconn1999]

I’ve watched the play two dozen times and can’t see any way that wasn’t an illegal screen. You just can’t make a sliding body block and expect it to go uncalled. Us UCONN fans have to be honest and ask ourselves how many times over the course of Edwards’ 4 yr career have we seen her called for the same thing. The honest answer: too many times. I interpreted Geno’s head grabbing anguish as directed not at the ref but at his player. Incredulous that after 4 yrs, the same poor technique at the most critical time.
While I’ve LONG contended that WCBB is almost ruined by the incompetence of almost every single ref. IMHO, we see it everywhere when hiring to fill quotas is used instead of merit.
Every ref crew seems to check multiple boxes on the DEI scorecard.
It might have been the one call they got right all night
#12 in ‘25

 

[hoophuskee]

I’ve watched the play two dozen times and can’t see any way that wasn’t an illegal screen. You just can’t make a sliding body block and expect it to go uncalled. Us UCONN fans have to be honest and ask ourselves how many times over the course of Edwards’ 4 yr career have we seen her called for the same thing. The honest answer: too many times. I interpreted Geno’s head grabbing anguish as directed not at the ref but at his player. Incredulous that after 4 yrs, the same poor technique at the most critical time.
While I’ve LONG contended that WCBB is almost ruined by the incompetence of almost every single ref. IMHO, we see it everywhere when hiring to fill quotas is used instead of merit.
Every ref crew seems to check multiple boxes on the DEI scorecard.
It might have been the one call they got right all night
#12 in ‘25

I
IMO the entire context of your post is way off base.

1--- Most of us are not arguing that AE didn’t move. Most of the national media for those that disagreed with the call were stating "you don't make that call. that late. . . " Thus right off the bat you make a comment that isn't the argument.

2--- Then - I see you've decided to change the word "pick" to "body block?" Really? C'mon. All "picks" are technically "body blocks," are they not? That's whole idea of a pick. So, you decided to make it sound worse because who uses the phrase "body block" instead of "pick.?" Then notice how the Iowa guard reacted. She acted big time.

3--- Then you avoid the subject by speaking of AE's past plays which have zero to do with the current play that is being discussed.

4-- Then your interpretation of Geno imo couldn’t be farther from the truth. How you make this leap imo is - stunning. Did you not listen to his presser after? Around at the 17 minute mark - he was asked two questions -- and if you think that was someone that had even a miniscule thought of frustration with AE and not the refs - then I have a bridge for sale that you may want to buy.

IMO you couldn't be farther off base which makes your comment of "If we are to be honest . . ." pretty bizarre.

But it's over and done with. And I agree with your last impliciation of moving on -- with your final comment -- Let's go Huskies!

 

[Forego]

The prime directive for every official is to ensure that the teams are playing on an even playing field. Whether or not the illegal screen call was correct or if the timing of the call was poor are arguable. What isn’t arguable is that the referees failed to fulfill the prime directive throughout the game.

 

[Seahorn]

I found this view & it's obvious. The ref is right there. Her feet ,the elbow & the movement. Gabbie Marshal said she asked the ref to watch Aaliyah Edwards on these screens throughout the game emphasizing the lowering of the shoulder. This was too obvious not minimal at all. "let the teams decide the outcome"? Where do you draw the line? I'm all for letting the game play out at the end if it's minimal but that's not the case here.

How coincidental .. Looking back & being objective how not making the call near end isn't alway the right choice..

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