USA Today: A terrible call ruined a perfect ending to Iowa and UConn's Final Four matchup and fans are livid

[Galaxyshooter]

This call like many others, in countless games, across ALL SPORTS, is just an indication that the level of officiating has deteriorated. The questions we have to ask is WHY IS IT?
Is it the fact that players have gotten so big, fast, and powerful, that officiating is not able to keep up? Is it because the game itself has gotten too fast for official's? Is it the fact that there's not enough official's in games, today. Remember that there was only 2 officals, calling games. Now there's 3, maybe it's time to increase that number to 4. Is it because some officials, umpires, and referees are not that very good? Some of these think that THEY are the most important part of the game. Finally, and the most sinister, is it because outside forces like the media, gamblers, administration's may want certain teams to win certain games to further their own agendas?
The answers to ALL of these questions is a sad YES. We may not want to believe it, and some may call me a "CONSPIRACY THEORIST ", but the signs are there. You cannot ignore them. What do you do, to change this?
My thoughts on that are too long, as I already have gone on too long. But just look at past incidents, in ALL sports and ask yourself if it was just a coincidence?

It's very simple, the answer to why and it's the elephant in the room.. MONEY !! the networks and NCAA crave ratings and matchups to hype, players want to make more NIL money giving companies more power in the player movement to different programs they support, and the biggest of them all Gambling especially now that it's legal it's probably easier to fix games than before and now the game starts to be stained and tainted. If Iowa has the same advantage in call in Sunday's game as they did against Uconn and that same call is made against SC will there be any doubt that the fix is in for CC and Iowa?..let's see how Sunday's game unfolds..SC should win big but big money and the NCAA wants Iowa

 

[Stinger92860]

You have to look at the totality of the game. There were calls that went both ways. It happens. If you want the game bad enough, you beat the opponent by 20 points not lose by 1 or 2 points then complain about the refs. C'mon UCONN fans, you're better than this.

Wrong. 18 fouls to 9. FTs 14 to 4.

 

[SLY63]

@donalddoowop is right.

Two different things here. Should they make the call? No. Should AE know how to set a proper screen in that situation? Yes.

It not was not an egregious moving screen, but AE gave the ref the opportunity to make the call.

Great point. Watching the videos posted here make it look like a reasonable call. AE has consistently been called for moving screens (probably 30% o her fouls) and the fact that after 4 years it has not been corrected is disappointing.

 

[dogpause]

Wild things happen at the end of basketball games all the time. There are game-winning shots, incredible defensive plays, wild turnovers. You can see it all at the end of any given basketball game. That’s just the nature of the sport.

But the one thing you always hope for in the end is that the game is left in the hands of the players. You want to see someone make a play to either win or lose it. That’s the perfect way to determine which team is the better one.

What you absolutely don’t want to see is an official effectively ending the game with a call one way or another. Especially when that call is an egregiously bad one.

That’s exactly what happened at the end of Iowa and UConn’s Final Four matchup.

A terrible call ruined a perfect ending to Iowa and UConn's Final Four matchup and fans are livid

The call ruined a classic game.

ftw.usatoday.com

Edwards has been getting called for illegal screens during her entire time at UConn. Who do you blame, her or the coaches? Or both?

 

[Next 12]

THIS IS NOT SOUR GRAPES. THIS IS FACT WITH NO PROOF. The way the world is today with society breaking down and confrontations everywhere. it is MY opinion that because of Uconn's success , there are "people" that do not like Uconn. Before the BY clamped down, I read a lot of hate posts, especially from ND posters,on the BY. Geno has many times criticized Refs on some of their calls. Being human nature the way it is, is it possible that that could affect the outcome of a game? 18 fouls on Uconn and only 9 on Iowa makes me wonder .Uconn outplayed Iowa in every facet of the game except rebounds. The deciding factor of the game were the Free throws. Uconn is known for their defense and LACK of fouling. My opinion..... I wish ALL of the people in the Uconn hemisphere a happy summer and will see all of you in October. GO FRESHMEN!!!! GO HUSKIES!!!!

 

[NoSpamHere]

Gabby Marshall, in her post game press conference, said she was hunting for that call, which is why you can see her throw her head/body back even though the contact was lateral. Unfortunately, the ref bit on the flop.

If you going to make that call at that time of the game, you need to be sure you've made the SAME CALL every other time it's happened. You can call a moving screen on almost every possession.

In this game, it seems only UConn committed moving screens while Iowa never did, which shows that the refs used their judgement on when to call it. Obviously. that judgement failed here.

 

[ME Husky Fan]

You could go back and forth all day long on this and yes, when it gets to this point in any game, you want the infraction to be egregious and this didn’t qualify, no way in hell. One play did not make the game though and we played sloppy far too often. Cannot say enough about our girls and what they accomplished this year with more adversity than any other program could have endured. Edward’s? We teach this in AAU ball, if not earlier, let the person with the ball run their defender into you. You? You stand there like the Statue of Liberty and take the hit. Don’t move!!!

 

[Fore!]

I've been reading social media about this, and you get two camps. One is "You shouldn't make that call at that point in the game," and the other is "a foul is a foul."

And it seems to me that it's an issue of whether you see the forest or the trees.

If you're asking whether or not Aaliyah committed a violation of the rules, re: screening position, the answer is probably yes, IMO. You could call her for a violation and be following the letter of the rules. That's the "trees" side of things.

You could also point out that because the referee chose to make that particular off ball call, at that particular time in the game, with that tight score...people are no longer talking about the actual basketball game. That was a very competitive, close, dramatic matchup. It should have been a showcase for the sport in its own right, with more people paying attention than they have in decades. But people are no longer talking about the 39 preceding minutes. Instead they're talking about a referee. That's the "forest" side of things.

But I'm a UConn fan. I don't claim to be unbiased. I'm sure I'd get over it more easily if the situation were reversed. But (I hope), I wouldn't feel completely sanguine about it. That's a rough, rough way to end a national semifinal.

My gripe is, if you are going to call that moving screen you’ve got to call CC’s push off against KK (she scored on it).

 

[djct1999]

It’s wild how quickly one call made me a huge South Carolina fan overnight. I really hope they beat Iowa by 20.

 

[boontonbomber]

Paige showed how to lose gracefully in the post game press conference, something that is beyond many of the posters here. The slow-mo video clearly shows Aaliyah moving. The fact that the ref saw it and called it is, to me, a sign that the officials are not nearly as bad as fans make them out to be. I see it as a gutsy call. It was a great tourney run by an undermanned UConn team, one of the best in the 30 year I've followed them. Accepting loss as part of the game is very hard for many here.

 

[dtbtbtb]

Was it an illegal screen by AE? yes, it was (she was moving). at the same time you can't call this as a foul if you didn't call similar instances on Iowa the whole game and to do it, stinks and makes you think that the NCAA who wants/need Clark to be in the Final (rating), expressed it to the ref/s before the game.

 

[Kaizen]

Edwards has been getting called for illegal screens during her entire time at UConn. Who do you blame, her or the coaches? Or both?

Bad mouth never speaks truth.

 

[hoophuskee]

UC was STILL down one, and STILL had to score to tie/take lead, if that call hadn't made..and Iowa may have STILL had some time for a last shot IF we scored...
That one apparently correct, call, to me, right in front of that WNBA ref- she looked like a blocking NFL lineman on the replay, even if it had been wrong, didn't cost them the game--(but I do admit that almost all screens are "moving," somewhat )--
What did was too many horrible turnovers, not enough Paige shots, especially in 4th quarter, very few/no down low shots by our big Aliyah, who took 15-16-17 ft jumpers instead, ...and bad coaching (?),...
They beat themselves-- gave the game away, I think, especially with Killer Kaitlin being mostly not very good....
Of course, the Iowa D may deserve credit, too--..I'll check the DVR 14 times to check-- Just a casual fan, here !!
Also the very underrated Miss Martin was awesome- good for her- the offensive MVP.....BUT GOOD LUCK SUNDAY, HAWKEYES !!! SQUAWK !! SQUAWK !!

But still it was an incorrect call. If all screesn are moving then why is THAT call being made AT THAT MOMENT? And the call was made with 3 seconds left, wasnt it? And Paige was at the 3pt line? How much time would Iowa have if the shot went in?

 

[tchalla1]

A few years ago in the Elite 8 game between Baylor and UConn, Dijonai Carrington attacked the basket late in a close game with UConn ahead. Liv went up to contest the shot. There was some minimal contact, but the refs did not blow the whistle.

Of course, Kim and Baylor’s fans were livid at the non-call. But clearly, at that point in the game, the refs did not want to determine the outcome. That was the right thing to do then. It also would have been the right thing to do last night.

I thought back to that game as well in reference to last night, and truthfully, I thought the non-call on Liv during the Baylor game was more an egregious non-call than Edward's call last night. I mean Edwards extended her elbow fairly noticeably and it gave UConn a competitive advantage on the play...

As Paige stated, it shouldn't have come down to this singular play--UConn had numerous opportunities to put this game away instead just played lackluster and uninspiring ball, and made incredibly stupid decisions down the stretch to give the game away.

Which is unfortunate because Nika played the game of her life--it was an absolute defensive gem that she displayed last night.

 

[tchalla1]

Blame Geno. He could have just inbounded the ball to Paige and let her try to win it instead. Too much can go wrong trying to get a play set up for her. And they never got a shot off.

While I'm not blaming Geno, I thought the same thing as the play unfolded: With 3 seconds left, just go directly to Paige and let her improvise--she is best in the women's game at that...

 

[tchalla1]

Watch a video of CC pushing KK to get her shot off. The whistle was swallowed there. So what is the difference? You can’t have it both ways

This is the thing thaat bothers me most, not that Edwards call wasn't appropriate but the imbalance of the calls: Clark as she got frustrated with Nika's smothering defense, was pushing, shoving, doing extended arm bars to free herself, and nothing was called...

 

[hoophuskee]

You have to look at the totality of the game. There were calls that went both ways. It happens. If you want the game bad enough, you beat the opponent by 20 points not lose by 1 or 2 points then complain about the refs. C'mon UCONN fans, you're better than this.

Noo - you do NOT have to took at the totalitiy of the game all the time. No one does that that is watching. Otherwise why ever comment on a great shot? Or a great steal if all that matters is the totality? If you can say "great shot" or "great steal" or "great pass" -- then why can't you say "awful call?"

IMO the point isn't that the refs cost UCONN the game. The call cost UCONN an opportunity -- for that one play. Was it the right call? IMO and others - it wasn't. This one call has little to do with the rest of the game-- bu tinstead- just that partciular call forthat 1 play is what the issue is with many of us just like when we remark on a great shot etc.

When you say "we're better than this--"imo you are just using mssive rationalization to justifiy a call. If it were just UConn fans then you'd have a point. But it isn't. SO you are saying the others need to be better too? It was the last shot. Aren't player and teams sometimes defined how well they play late? That's also a common comment. SO your point of totality of the game is off-base.

 

[WLT1717]

Don’t often agree with Gottlieb but his post is over the targethttps://x.com/gottliebshow/status/1776607343708700798?s=46&t=DX1pWYc4ffblo76F9wxGnA

https://x.com/gottliebshow/status/1776607343708700798?s=46&t=DX1pWYc4ffblo76F9wxGnA

 

[UCan3]

It was a very quick whistle, too- hmmm

Yes one the ref seemed excited to call as well.


Iowa state also did some acting/pandering to refs - like Clark’s falling down and pretending she was fouled on that important 3 point shot that turned the tide of the game.

Honestly, Iowa State played the reffing crew - kinda made them look like fools which culminated the last call - which again, was acting 101.

 

[MSGRET]

You have to look at the totality of the game. There were calls that went both ways. It happens. If you want the game bad enough, you beat the opponent by 20 points not lose by 1 or 2 points then complain about the refs. C'mon UCONN fans, you're better than this.

You must be blind, 18 fouls to 9 fouls is not fouls being called both ways, 10 out of 14 free throws made vs 3 out of 4. Twice CC pushed off and there were no fouls called, she made both shots by the way.

 

[jeff30189]

It wasn't a bad call - but it wasn't the right call for that moment of this game with that score. It was definitely a moving screen, but was it any more obvious or egregious than the other 20 that preceded it that we NOT called?

Paige summed it up best - one play didn't lose the game. It didn't need to come down to this, but unfortunately it did.

 

[NoSpamHere]

Glad to see viewers of the Men's tournament are aware of a moving pick and whether/when it might be called...

 

[willtalk]

There are multiple issues at play here with only one being if this was a foul. It can be excused in real time, depending on the from where it was viewed, to think this constituted a sight bit of movement. Like the woman annouceer statee " Edwards did lean into her slightly.". My inital viewing I noticeed that she appeared to slide across the foor with both feet from one vantage point. However from a vantage point from the front closer to the court ( from where the offical made his call ) it was obvious that her feet were still moving after contact and somewhat after. I was not even considering how wide apart her legs were spread. Put to gether this is about as bad of a blocking foul as I have ever seen. After seeing this and the other video there should be no doubt.

 

[ABCDFE]

It’s wild how quickly one call made me a huge South Carolina fan overnight. I really hope they beat Iowa by 20.

Nah