Baylor feels shortchanged by late no call

SAN ANTONIO — UConn and Baylor’s Elite Eight matchup was thrilling for the first 39 minutes, 43 seconds.

And then Baylor’s controversial final play happened.

Coming out of a timeout with 17.2 seconds on the clock and the Bears down 1, Baylor grad transfer DiJonai Carrington found herself with the ball at the top of the key. With just under six seconds remaining, Carrington attacked the rim off a pick-and-roll, leaving UConnjunior Olivia Nelson-Ododatoswitch onto Carrington in place of Christyn Williams.

The Baylor guard got to the left block before pulling up with about four seconds remaining, attempting to hoist a shot — or perhaps draw a foul.

Carrington, who attempted the shot over the outstretched hands of Nelson-Ododa and defender Aaliyah Edwards, fell to the ground and watched her try fall short, with Williams coming away with the defensive rebound. As Williams got fouled and hit a free throw on the ensuing play to put UConn up two, Baylor fans in the crowd at the Alamodome roared in disapproval at the referee’s no-call.

And while the Huskies ultimately came away with a 69-67 victory to advance to the program’s 13th straight Final Four, that didn’t stop LeBron James, WNBA stars and even Geno Auriemma’s daughter from taking to Twitter to protest the

officials’ inaction.

Suffice to say Baylor coach Kim Mulkey was not happy about it. When asked about the play, Mulkeyturned the question around to the reporter to see what they thought about it.

Reporter: “I was surprised they didn’t call a foul.”

Mulkey: “Thenwrite it like that. Youdon’t need a quote from me. I’ve got still shots and video fromtwoangles. Onekidhits her in the face, one kid hits her on the elbow.” Carrington agreed.

“I personally don’t see it as a controversial call,” she said. “I’ve already seen the replay. One girl fouled me in my face and one girl fouled meonmyarm. At that point, you can’t do anything else.”

Auriemma on the other hand?

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen it,” he said. “But I’d also like to look at all the fouls in the first half where they shot 11 free throws and we shot two. I’m not going to go back and check all those. I’m not going to go back and check on the last one.

“A call’s a call, and you’ve got to live with it. Andtheofficials are going to makethecall they think they need to make.”

Auriemma also didn’t care muchfor what James had to say.

“I don’t think LeBron’s ever wonagameon a bad call by the other team, by the officials onthe other team, doyouthink?” Auriemma laughed. “I probably doubt it. I probably doubt that in his career he’s ever wonagame anddecided to give it back because helooked at it and went ‘That was a foul.’ ”

It was an incredibly physical game from the get-go, not a huge shock considering Baylor’s perennial toughness andthe matchup’s high stakes.

Baylor indeed hadan11-2edge in first-half free throws, with UConn called for seven fouls to Baylor’ s three. Edwards and N el sonOdoda were each called for two, disrupting the Huskies’ strong start, while Baylor guard Moon Ursin had a pair and reserve Caitlin Bickle got dinged for one.

Auriemma saw the Carrington play’s no-call as an extension of how the referees had been calling the game since the tip.

“It is whatit is,” Auriemmasaid. “Onetime I asked one of the officials, ‘How did Paige end up on the ground with a Baylor player ontop of her onaloose ball?’ Hegoes‘I don’t know.’ ”

Nonetheless, the UConn players say they didn’t mind how the game was called and prefer when officials let the players play.

“Oh most definitely,” said Evina Westbrook, who’s known for her physicality and toughness. “I’d rather the officials just let us play.

“Yeah, we’re females, but we’re very athletic just like guys are, so I’d rather them just let us play than call ticky-tack stuff. Obviously, both teams are going to feel like there’s missed calls here, missed calls there, but I think overall it was a good game.”

“It wasavery physical gameandweknew that coming in, but I’d rather it be very, very physical than there be ticky-tack fouls. I was playing the samedefense that I did in the first game[against HighPoint] andIhadtwofouls early on in that game. So I feel like the refs switched [approaches].

“It was physical. There were a lot of no calls.”

Things evened out in the second half. Baylor was called for four more fouls than UConn, and the Huskies made four more trips to the line. Both teams missed seven free throws, UConn on 16 attempts and Baylor on 20.

People will argue Carrington should’ve been headed to the line for more shots after that last play as well. Not that Auriemma is going to lose sleep over that.

“If they would have said it was a foul, I would be on the other end going, ‘You can’t make that call and make that call a foul,’ ” Auriemma said. “So it is what it is. I’m not going to sit here and apologize for it.

“And if people are going to want to talk about that the rest of the week, you’re welcome to do that. It’s not going to change the outcome. And it’s not going to make me feel bad that you say it was a foul.”