The LSU Lady Tigers just saw their season come to a close as the UCLA Bruins beat the LSU Lady Tigers 72-65 in the Elite 8. The LSU Lady Tigers were down heading into the fourth quarter and started to chip away as the defense was making stop after stop while Flau'Jae Johnson and the offense had their best stretch of the game.
Then one pivotal call seemingly derailed LSU's run while giving UCLA all of the momentum right back. In the final minutes of the game, a loose ball clearly hit off of the foot of UCLA's Kiki Rice but, the official with a clear view of the play somehow called it off of LSU's Kailyn Gilbert.
That was 100 percent out on ucla pic.twitter.com/FVxw7mwe1p
— Sharief Ishaq (@ShariefWDSU) March 30, 2025
Kim Mulkey and LSU's players begged and pleaded with the referees to talk about the call but, as the game wasn't under the two minute mark the referees couldn't review the call. As soon as the call happened, LSU fans exploded on social media outraged at the call and the way it impacted the game.
Angel Reese saw the play and instantly turned to Twitter herself to point out how horrible the officiating had been in this matchup.
These refs man smh
— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) March 30, 2025
As every fan got to watch the play from several angles on TV, every fan had the same takeaway, it wasn't even close to being off of LSU.
that wasn't even close to being off of LSU
— dylan sanders (@DillySanders) March 30, 2025
The most frustrating part for LSU fans about the entire situation was the fact that there was a referee in the perfect position to see the play yet, the wrong call was still made.
I always say if you put yourself in position to get screwed by the refs you may get screwed by the refs, but I can't believe how the ref missed the ball off Rice in front of the #LSU bench.
— Scott Rabalais (@RabalaisAdv) March 30, 2025
Women's basketball officiating can be unbelievably dreadful.
One fan pointed out how several dangerous and wreck plays weren't called as fouls on UCLA while it seemed that LSU got called for every little play.
Ok that should have been a foul on Betts! She’s playing kind of dangerous and Ref’s gotta handle that. LSU vs UCLA.
— Tenny Targaryen (@nmecantbeblankk) March 30, 2025
The way the games are officiated have to be looked at and the NCAA has to consider seriously making different changes. We often see tons of reviews across several sports but, when there's a clear and obvious call that is missed someone needs to be able to step in and make it right. While the final two minutes is the most crucial period of the game, the referees also should be able to go to review much earlier.
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