A concern mentioned by many of the participants was the increased physical nature of women's basketball, and how that has impacted scoring and the overall pleasure fans get from watching games.
From Mechelle Voepel's report of the meeting published in espnW.com:
"As I said in the meeting, the one thing that could be impactful immediately is the officiating," Auriemma said. "To find a way to come to a consensus on how the game is going to be officiated, and that it be consistent all over the country. There are a lot of rules right now that are not necessarily being enforced.The message has been sent and heard!"I think we have a culture now where we're hopped up on how physical we can be, how tough. But in the end, we have boxing matches in the lane, somebody trying to make up for their lack of skill by just beating people up. And that's so counterproductive to what we're trying to do."
VanDerveer said this was one of the aspects of Monday's summit that she felt most enthusiastic about: That there really could be changes made to return the game to more of a showcase for offensively skilled players.
"I feel that can happen now," VanDerveer said. "The message will be sent to officials and their coordinators that it isn't rugby or sumo wrestling, it's basketball. I'm ecstatic about that. I think it's good for everybody, because you'll see more basketball skill."
NCAA officials are planning to enforce rules more tightly this year. They have been instructed not to tolerate physical play in the post, on shooters and on ball handlers.
See New Rules Set to Help Women’s Offenses in College Basketball by Doug Feinberg (Associated Press) for more information.
Jasmine helped Tara demonstrate the new rules at the behind-the-bench session on Sunday after the Vanguard game.
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