Rule changes for 2017-18

The NCAA Women's Basketball Rules Committee has announced the following rules changes for upcoming season:

• The coaching boxes have been extended from 28-feet (just beyond the 3-point arc) to 38-feet (9 feet short of the center line). The committee believes this alteration will allow coaches to improve communication with their teams.


• The 3-foot restricted area arc inside the paint will now be 4-foot. A secondary defender must be outside the arc and in legal guarding position to draw a charge. If the player is in the restricted area when contact is made, a foul (block) will be called.


• The “use-it-or-lose-it” timeout in the first half has been eliminated. Coaches are allowed to carry all timeouts over to the second half.


• A player must place both feet on the floor outside the lane to avoid a three-second violation.


• Teams will now be able to choose which side of the court to inbound the ball after advancing it to the frontcourt after a timeout in the backcourt. In the past, teams had to inbound the ball at the 28-foot line on the side with the scorer’s table.


• The 10-second backcourt count will not be reset when the offensive team calls a timeout.


• Officials will be allowed to use replay to determine if the release of the ball on a made bucket occurred before the shot clock expired.