Ref errors marked LSU women's title win vs. Iowa, reviews find - ESPN

LSU's national championship win over Iowa to end last season's NCAA women's basketball tournament is remembered in part for its controversial officiating. A review of the game by the NCAA and an independent review provided to The Associated Press concluded the refereeing did not meet expectations.

The NCAA had planned a review of tournament officiating after the 2024 championship concludes in April, but the process was sped up by a year after criticism of the LSU-Iowa showdown.

NCAA vice president for women's basketball Lynn Holzman said the officials were graded on the accuracy of their calls and that the overall accuracy number fell short.

«In the championship game itself, for example, we typically have a performance that, I think, is 91% historically,» she said. «In that game, the percentage of correct calls was below that, around 88%.»

The NCAA did not provide the review or details to the AP, but an independent review by an official who did not participate in the game found the percentage of correct calls was much lower than 88%. (Out-of-bounds violations were not included as part of the independent analysis; it was unclear if they were included in the NCAA figure.)

According to the independent review, mistakes made during the game included a foul called on Angel Reese at the end of the first quarter that was her second of the game. In the third quarter, two offensive fouls were missed, one by each team. Both resulted in video monitor reviews but neither ended up penalizing the offensive player, said the official, who did the review for on condition of anonymity because they feared the criticism could affect their career.

The 88% correct call rate was on par with the rest of the 2023 NCAA tournament, but not ideal