Video challenge rules proposed to speed up NCAA women’s games

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The NCAA Women’s Basketball Rules Committee has forwarded a recommendation that, if approved, would make women’s basketball coaches the ones to initiate a challenge by video review under certain conditions.

The recommendation, made this week at a meeting in Indianapolis, now will be forwarded to the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel for approval. Potential rule changes are set to be discussed June 10.

The rules committee suggested the challenge change take effect for the 2025-26 season.

Under the proposal, the plays that would be challenged by a coach include those that were ruled as either out-of-bounds or backcourt violations. Officials are the ones to currently initiate the review, but a change could speed up the game.

“The committee was concerned with pace of play and the number of reviews occurring at the end of games,” said Nicki Collen, rules committee chair and head women’s basketball coach at Baylor. “This was also an experimental rule in this year’s WBIT. By removing the option for officials to review called out-of-bounds violations and allowing coaches to challenge the call, you increase flow at the end of games while still allowing for the opportunity to get the call right.”

Teams would not need to have a timeout available to ask for a video challenge, under the proposal. Should a coach unsuccessfully challenge a play, an administrative technical foul for an excessive timeout would be the result.

Other proposed rules changes include eliminating the requirement that jerseys need to be tucked in and setting the shot clock at 20 seconds when the offense gets the ball in its front court following a dead ball.

–Field Level Media