[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by bball_lurker

I thought I had this rule straight, but I may be mistaken. Is it something like "you must make a play on the ball when you attempt to foul"?

A little prelim, just to set up the feel of the game.

GJV, good game, lights out shooting, both teams score in the 60's.
Team A, up by 5, 30 seconds to go. A1 drives for for fast break layup and gets hard (but not excessive) foul. A1 stays on the floor in obvious pain for about 5 minutes. Teams are huddled up around coaches, team B laughing and having a good time. She eventually gets to the bench, but after the game had to have and ambulance come get her. So in my mind, this game is getting to the border of out of control.

In any case, with 20 seconds to go, A2 gets the steal backcourt and turns it up court. B5 shoves her hard in the back, with 2 hands. Not that it matters, but b5 is the biggest player on the court, A2 one of the smallest.

The refs call common foul. Am I mistaken here?

Is a two-handed shove to the back playing the ball? Probably not...

I'd go with a minimum of an intentional foul here. If I thought she tried to injure the player, I've got a flagrant personal foul.