Mathletic Sports +

By: Logan Griffiths

The NCAA feared moving the women’s 3-point line back 16 inches would hurt shooting. Instead, players are launching threes at record pace. 

When the NCAA moved back the women’s 3-point line from 20 feet, 9 inches to 22 feet, 1.75 inches, before the 2021-22 season, shooting accuracy initially dropped below 31% for the first time since 2013. But three seasons later, teams are attempting threes at record rates – nearly 33% of all shots – as players and coaches transformed the rule change into an offensive advantage. 

Those calling games had the closest view of the adjustment period. Jeff Griesch, who has served as the Nebraska women’s basketball analyst since 1999, saw no impact. 

“I didn’t even notice,” Griesch said. “And I would say that consistently across teams, I didn’t notice that it affected anybody else either.”

Two years earlier men’s basketball made the same adjustment for the 2019-20 season. Men’s Division I 3-point shooting dropped below 34% the first year, marking the lowest in history. Women’s basketball experienced similar disruptions to their game. But the drop affected players unevenly.

High-volume shooters barely felt the change, as a whole their shooting percentage decreased by less than half a percentage point, from 33.4% to 33%. Low-volume shooters struggled, with their group accuracy falling from 25.5% to 22.9%.

Matt Coatney, Nebraska’s radio play-by-play voice for 26 seasons, explained why great shooters adapted quicker. 

“The 3-point shooters were not shooting with their toes on the line,” Coatney said. “They were operating in space, significantly behind it.”

Freshmen faced the steepest learning curve. First-year players in 2021-22  saw their combined 3-point percentage drop more than a full percentage point compared to the upperclassmen. The deeper arc also created subtle scheme innovations. The added spacing opened opportunities on both ends of the floor. 

“Those bigs benefited by moving that line because there was more room to operate in the painted area,” Coatney said. 

Coaches encountered new challenges defensively. The additional 16 inches created more ground to cover, making closeouts riskier and help defense more complicated.

“It did make it more challenging for defensive coaches,” Coatney said. “If you have a poor closeout, somebody can blow right by you.”

Any concerns about a lasting influence disappeared. By 2022-23, 3-point attempt rates increased, with teams taking 3-pointers on roughly 33% of field goal attempts–passing pre-2021 numbers. 3-point accuracy recovered too, climbing back toward the historical 33% range by 2023-24. 

The new distance has produced unexpected performances. Former Iowa Hawkeye Caitlin Clark became the first player in NCAA women’s history to make over 200 3-pointers in a season, finishing with 201, averaging 5.15 makes per game.

“There’s not a line that’s deep enough for her range,” Coatney said about Clark. 

The University of Nebraska exemplifies the sport’s growth. The program’s four highest 3-point attempt totals in school history have come in the past four seasons, with eight of the top 10 occurring during coach Amy Williams’ nine-year tenure as head coach. 

“We have really put an emphasis on recruiting shooters at all five spots,” Griesch said. “This year, we’ll have four guards who can get shots off and create their own shots, who are shooting better than 35%.”

The change had unexpected consequences. With more offense moving through the perimeter, teams attack the paint less, resulting in fewer trips to the line. In 2023-24, teams attempted 14% fewer free throws per game than in 2013-14.

The evolution of women’s basketball mirrors a basketball revolution that happened in men’s basketball. Just as Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry inspired NBA players to extend their range, women’s basketball is experiencing its own long-distance revolution. 

“The 3-point shot in women’s basketball is the dunk,” Griesch said. “People who love 3-point shooting come to women’s basketball to watch because you can get cleaner looks than you can in the men’s game.”

Coatney noted young players now practice shots from beyond 25 feet , modeling their game after Clark.

“Every little girl who’s watched Caitlin Clark … they come into the gym, they can hit the three,” Coatney said. “It’ll be interesting to see where we are in 10 years with it, because the accuracy of 3-point shooting is not going down. It’s only going up.”

The evolution has coincided with unprecedented fan interest. While personalities like Clark have driven much growth, the product on court supports growing engagement.

Four years after the arc moved back, women’s college basketball has grown. Beyond the arc shooting emerged as the sport’s biggest strength after the largest rule change in years.