[81alum]

But then at 15:09 in the 2nd half, a Santa Clara player runs too far under the basket and has to release ("shoot") the ball behind the basket to avoid the travel call.  She then catches it herself, going L-R-L-R-L-R in her steps), with no one else being within 3 feet of the ball nor was the ball anywhere close to hitting the backboard.

I saw that play, too, and wondered why it wasn't called traveling. Maybe no official had a good enough angle to be sure the ball wasn't touched or deflected, but it looked awfully blatant on my TV set.

There was some scattered booing in the stands on that call.  I think the non-call caught everyone very much by surprise.  One of those times when it was so obvious and so blatant that it was easier for casual watchers to believe that the refs had their reasons than that they missed it.  In a tight game, or against a hated foe, the scattered booing would have been resounding.

[81alum]

But then at 15:09 in the 2nd half, a Santa Clara player runs too far under the basket and has to release ("shoot") the ball behind the basket to avoid the travel call.  She then catches it herself, going L-R-L-R-L-R in her steps), with no one else being within 3 feet of the ball nor was the ball anywhere close to hitting the backboard.

I saw that play, too, and wondered why it wasn't called traveling. Maybe no official had a good enough angle to be sure the ball wasn't touched or deflected, but it looked awfully blatant on my TV set.

There was some scattered booing in the stands on that call.  I think the non-call caught everyone very much by surprise.  One of those times when it was so obvious and so blatant that it was easier for casual watchers to believe that the refs had their reasons than that they missed it.  In a tight game, or against a hated foe, the scattered booing would have been resounding.