Cal vs. USC Women's Basketball ending

Saturday night, I watched the end of the Cal vs. USC game as USC did everything in its power to lose the game. With .3 of a second, the officials whistled a jump ball and gave possession to Cal. After a timeout, Lauren Grief threw a perfect lob pass to Ashley Walker who jumped, caught the ball and made the shot. Based on the clock, she shot the ball before the clock hit 0 to send the game to overtime.

After 15 minutes, the officials decided that the basket was no good. They said at the time that with .3 of a second, you can only tip the ball.

I have scoured the internet for 2 days to find more information. I have never heard of this rule and am interested in its origins.

In the NBA, you have to have .3 of a second to be able to catch and shoot (The Trent Tucker Rule). Why is the NCAA rule different?

This video shows Jason Kapono shooting a basketball and making a 3-pointer in .22 seconds.



On his initial attempt, It took Kapono .19 seconds to set the ball; it took .o9 to catch and .1 to shoot. So, without changing anything, the question for Walker was whether she took time to set the ball before she released it.

Of course, that is also subjective to this rule. I'm just interested where the rule originates and why .3 of a second means only a tip in NCAA basketball. Maybe the NCAA should watch Fox Sports and Sports Science.

Sports Science suggests keeping time in hundreths of a second, rather than tenths of a second. Similarly, with Walker's shot, who knows whether it was .39 or .31 seconds. So, again, where did the rule originate and why does a college player require .4 to catch and shoot?