There’s plenty of room for alternative interpretations. Mine is in part shaped by the taunting after the ejection is announced. The refs couldn’t have taken that into account since it’s after the fact they were focused on. But it seems to me to reveal the true character of the entire episode. In effect. The mask slipped.
I've only seen the clip of the action, not the players reaction to the ejection. Unfortunately, the clip provided doesn't offer enough to provide better context. It still looks a kick to me because her leg was free before it extended again and hit the player.
I discount the kick because it seemed feeble for something intentional. It wasn’t a moving screen, so no foul there. And I see the initial contact as less than solid. That’s why I compared it to Men’s Soccer “injuries.” She curls up on the floor wailing as if an internal organ had been ruptured, and pops up a moment later only to mock her victim when the decision is rendered. This player has a history of this sort of thing, and I wish refs were allowed to take this into account.
The intentional foul rule has a broad description, which includes unnecessary contact/action. That's the category I think it falls under. Again, the clip doesn't show the review or how how the players react after the call, so I can't speculate whether she was acting or not. The kick looks like it made contact with her between the legs and it doesn't matter if it's a woman or man, that can be painful.
I didn’t see a clip. I watched the game. That’s what I saw.
Understood and unfortunately I wasn't able to watch it. What's been posted on social media and this thread is what I'm basing my responses on. We disagree on whether the kick should have been deemed an intentional foul, however I believe we both agree that Brunelle shouldn't have been ejected or suspended for it.
I may also be reading too much into this one incident. But here's why: this same FSU player attempted something similar when we played them, trying to "entrap" Nika in an intentional foul. At least, that's how I saw it. The video from that game seemed pretty clear to me -- a fake head-snap after the two of them were already separated. And in two other games, similar hijinks occurred involving this player, and finally the UVa game, which seemed both the most extreme incident, and one in which the refs reacted in the most extreme way -- and I think got the call exactly backwards. It looks like some sort of escalation, as the profilers on police shows like to say about serial offenders.
Totally understand that perspective. I'm not of a fan of it either. Not sure how to fix the problem either. The women's game doesn't have the flopping rule in place which doesn't make sense. Would these examples you noted fall into this category if the rule existed? Just a random musing as we'll never know until it is up for discussion at the NCAA.
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For NC State, it has taken a while for the ladies to get the message about defense. During their swoon, they were giving up 73 points a game, 79 in their loss to Boston College (which has since lost 5 straight) and 91 to Florida State.
I think one of 4 teams could win the ACC tourney.
