Rules: NCAA women
Edition on file: 2025-26 and 2026-27 Women’s Rules Book, online version updated 1 September 2026.
Text status: on-file.
Document: NCAA Women’s Basketball Rules Book, retrieved 2026-09-21.
The full rules book PDF, extracted with pypdf: 51,092 words, with the same period extraction quirk as the men’s book. The restricted-area arc appears only on the court diagram (an image, page 20 in the book’s own index), so its radius is a gap here even though the book is on file.
All five compared · NBA · NCAA men · FIBA · NFHS (US high school).
The floor and spacing
Restricted area
The half-circle in front of the rim inside which a secondary defender cannot draw a charge. Entry.
No arc. The restricted area is the floor directly under the basket, from the front and side of the ring to the front of the backboard; the book recommends removing any painted arc. Rule 1-8.1
Verbatim: “The restricted area is that area of the playing court located directly underneath each basket” and “is defined as from the front and side of the ring to the front of the backboard” and, in the book’s note, “It is recommended that the three-foot arc, or four-foot arc on courts used only by women’s basketball programs, be removed the next time the playing court is refinished.”
Transition defense
Transition take foul
A deliberate foul on the ball early in a break to stop the play before the numbers advantage can be used. Entry.
No transition-specific foul; contact designed to negate an opponent’s obvious advantageous position is a flagrant 1 foul. Rule 10-13.1.b
Verbatim: “A flagrant 1 foul is a player-contact foul which, in the judgment of the official, is:” then “Contact designed to negate an opponent’s obvious advantageous position”. The text was also searched for the phrases take foul, transition, fast break and clear path; none names a rule.
Rules and regulations
Backcourt count
The time a team has to bring the ball across the midcourt line; the count a press is built to run out. Entry.
10 seconds. Rule 9-10
Verbatim: “shall not be in continuous control of a ball that is in their backcourt for 10 consecutive seconds”.
Court dimensions
The length and width of the playing court. Entry.
94 feet by 50 feet, inside the boundary lines. Rule 1-2.2
Verbatim: “The playing court shall be a rectangular surface free from obstructions with sidelines of 94 feet in length and end lines of 50 feet in length, measured from the inside edges of these lines”.
Defensive three seconds
The NBA rule that a defender in the lane must be guarding someone within three seconds; the reason a rim protector cannot simply stand under the basket. Entry.
No such rule; checked against NCAA Women’s Basketball Rules Book.
The book’s three-second rule restricts the offensive player only; its text was searched for a defensive count and none appears. The offensive rule reads, verbatim: “it is a violation when a player exceeds three seconds in the lane and there is no try for goal”.
Free-throw lane
How wide the painted lane is; the number behind the paint, the blocks and the elbows. Entry.
12 feet, measured to the outside of the lane lines. Rule 1-6.1
Verbatim: “A free-throw lane, 12 feet wide measured to the outside of each lane boundary”.
Free-throw line
How far the free-throw line is from the backboard; it fixes the nail and the elbows. Entry.
15 feet from the plane of the face of the backboard. Rule 1-6
Verbatim: “It shall be parallel to the end line and shall have its farthest edge 15 feet from the plane of the face of the backboard”.
Goaltending
Touching a shot on its way down, or off the backboard, while it can still score; the rule that limits what a rim protector may do. Entry.
A violation, alongside basket interference; only the defensive team’s goaltending awards points. Rule 9-15.1; Rule 5-1.18
Verbatim: “It is a violation to commit basket interference or goaltending” and “The only infractions for which points are awarded are goaltending or basket interference by the defensive team”.
Length of the game
How long a game is and how it is divided; the one rule every other clock hangs on. Entry.
Four quarters of 10 minutes. Rule 5-6.1
Verbatim: “Playing time for varsity games shall consist of four 10-minute quarters with a halftime intermission of 15 minutes”.
Shot clock
The time a team has to attempt a shot that reaches the ring; the number that sets the pace of every possession. Entry.
30 seconds; reset to 20 on a frontcourt throw-in after a dead-ball change of team control. Rule 2-11.1; Rule 2-11.6.d
Verbatim: “Use a 30-second shot clock” and, from the summary of changes, “The shot clock will be set to 20 seconds when, following a dead-ball change of team control, a team is awarded the ball for a throw-in in their frontcourt”.
Three-point line
How far the arc is from the basket, and how far the corner line is from the sideline; the geometry every spacing decision in Chapter 3 rests on. Entry.
22 feet 1¾ inches from the center of the basket; 21 feet 7⅞ inches in the corners. Rule 1-7.1
Verbatim: “The three-point field-goal line shall be a distance of 22 feet, 13/4 inches from the center of the basket to the outside edge of the three-point field-goal line and 21 feet, 77/8 inches in the corners”.