Women's Elite Eight: 'Swatkins' and Portland's screwy 3-point lines among winners, losers

It looked as if this women’s NCAA Tournament had a solid chance of doing what it is meant to – entertain fans and showcase up-and-coming talent, surprise stars and elite competition. But a controversy reared its ugly head Sunday when the NCAA announced just before tip of the Texas-NC State Elite Eight game that the 3-point lines at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, were different distances.

Three years after the NCAA was taken to task – first by players and coaches, then by results from an investigation – for not promoting, planning or providing equally for the women’s tournament as it did the men’s, it appears someone dropped the ball again.

The Wolfpack went on to win after both coaches agreed to play on instead of risk losing the ABC TV window, and the NCAA promised to “professionally measure” the court before Monday’s next Elite Eight game. Wonder what the teams who played in the five games there before Sunday are thinking now?

South Carolina punched its ticket to the Final Four – its fourth consecutive trip – with a hard-fought win over Oregon State in Albany, New York. The Gamecocks, undefeated and indefatigable, will meet neighbor NC State. The Wolfpack knocked off No. 1 seed Texas to earn their first bid since 1998.

While South Carolina has not lost since it was eliminated by Iowa in last year’s Final Four, the Wolfpack – like their male counterparts – have surprised and entertained on their deep run.

FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA basketball bracket, scores, schedules, teams and more.

Before all eyes turn to the rematch between Iowa and LSU, consider what unfolded Sunday in the women’s Elite Eight with our winners and losers:

WINNERS

Ashlyn Watkins

Better known as "Swatkins."

The South Carolina sophomore is continuing the school’s tradition of great shot-blockers. She had four against Oregon State, giving her 88 for the season. Watkins also had 14 rebounds against the Beavers, and six of them were on the offensive glass. 

“I love playing defense. I love jumping, and I just like being active on the defensive end,” Watkins said. “I think that's what gets us started on the offensive end, good defense.”

In both the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, Watkins’ defensive prowess was critical in runs that helped South Carolina put the games away. But it’s not only what she does on the court, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. 

“Ashlyn sits up here very mild-mannered and soft-spoken, but she's not,” Staley said. “When it's time for us to lock up and defend – when they went on their run in the second quarter, when they were getting those threes off and making them, she was saying things that I didn't have to say and utilize time in a timeout.” 

OPINION:South Carolina's biggest strength is ability to steal opponents' souls

Donovyn Hunter

Want to know how good a point guard the Oregon State freshman is? Let one of the best to ever do it tell you. 

“Donovyn is going to be great. She's already great. For her to be a freshman and to get her team in a position of one step away from going to the Final Four means that her future is bright,” said South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, whose name is literally on the award given to the country’s best guard. 

Staley was a two-time Player of the Year at Virginia and is still the only woman to be named Most Outstanding Player of the national championship game despite her team not winning. 

“They took us all the way to the fourth quarter in a one- or two-possession game, and it was catapulted by Donovyn, her ability to manage their team and get people in the right places and to play off the ball and to make us pay,” Staley said. 

Hunter’s stats are impressive – she had 10 points, going 2-of-3 from 3-point range, and also had five assists – but it’s her demeanor that makes you forget she’s still only a freshman. 

Junior guard Talia von Oelhoffen said she and Hunter had discussions early in the season about what Hunter could be doing better and how she could address the mistakes she was making. But those discussions are few and far between now. 

“She's our rock. She runs the show for us,” von Oelhoffen said. “To see how much more vocal she's become over the season has been incredible, and I can only imagine how much more she's going to grow in the next few years.”

River Baldwin, NC State

The NC State post scored all 16 of her points in the second half, 12 of them in the third quarter alone, to help the third-seeded Wolfpack shut the door on top-seeded Texas and earn a trip to the Final Four. She was a force inside, and Texas had no answer for her when she got deep position. She went 5-of-7 from the field, and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the line. 

A 6-foot-5 senior, Baldwin played her first three seasons at Florida State before transferring to NC State for the 2022-23 season. She said she went into the portal “looking for a competitive program,” with her eyes on reaching a Final Four. 

“It’s an honor to be part of a legacy that is NC State women’s basketball,” she said. “I didn’t start here, but I feel like I’ve been here my whole career. I really found a home here.

LOSERS

Whomever measured Portland's 3-point lines

You had one job! One! 

The first five games in the Portland regional were played with 3-point lines that were different distances. Not minute differences, mind you. You could easily see the gap between the top of the key and 3-point line was measurably larger on one side of the court at the Moda Center. 

How does this happen? An excellent question! It’s not as if the NCAA changed the 3-point line in the last week. Or even before the season. It was moved to 22 feet,1 ¾ inches for the 2021-22 season. 

The discrepancy was confirmed before N.C. State and Texas played Sunday afternoon, and the coaches agreed to play on the court as it was rather than delay the game so the lines could be fixed.

But c’mon, people. For all the progress the NCAA has made with the women’s game, it always manages to do something to ruin it.  

“I hate to say this, but I have a lot of colleagues that would say, 'Only in women's basketball,' " Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. “It's a shame, really, that it even happened. But it is what it is.”

That third foul on Raegan Beers

We know, we know. Ragging on the refs is like shooting fish in a barrel. But that call on Oregon State’s best player was weak. 

Worse, it affected the outcome of the game. 

Beers was called for an off-the-ball foul with 56 seconds left in the second quarter after she and Sania Feagin got tangled up under the basket. But replays showed the contact was both light and inadvertent. 

“I was blocked out on it, so I couldn't see it with my own eyes,” Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said, choosing his words carefully. “I've been told it probably wasn't an accurate call. That's what I've heard. I'm not here to get in trouble or anything.” 

Timea Gardiner was already playing with three fouls before halftime, too, and Rueck said that affected the way the Beavers played defense during South Carolina’s decisive run in the third quarter. 

“We were out there walking on eggshells, playing in a china closet, trying to avoid that fourth or fifth foul. Because of that, you play a little tentative,” he said.