For a moment on Friday, it seemed as though knowing which basket to shoot at might not be a given in college basketball. Two women’s teams managed to score on their own hoops, handing their opponents points in the process.
The first mishap happened during Northwestern State’s game against Arkansas. After an offensive foul, Lady Demons guard Karma Wynn put the ball into the Razorbacks’ basket on an inbounds play near the backcourt. Northwestern State had just made a defensive stop, but the mistake gave Arkansas two points.
The reaction from the Northwestern State bench said plenty. One assistant coach dropped her head toward her clipboard, while players watched in disbelief. Arkansas went on to win, 89-59.
Later, New Mexico State had an even stranger moment against Southern Utah. The Aggies were trailing 61-60 with a little more than 20 seconds left when guard Emma Christiana stole an inbounds pass. She then headed toward the wrong end of the court and laid the ball into her own basket.
Christiana and the people in the stands initially seemed unaware that Southern Utah had taken the lead. The scorekeeper apparently missed it, too: the broadcast scoreboard appeared to show New Mexico State going ahead.
So, with the game close, the Aggies had just scored two points for their opponent. Still, they found a way to win. Freshman Stacy Chovino scored twice in the final seconds, including the go-ahead basket with two seconds remaining, to give New Mexico State a 64-63 victory.
Winning after handing the other team points in the final half-minute is quite a turnaround. Friday brought two own-basket blunders in college basketball, and, somehow, one of the teams still came away with the win.
