dribble out of bounds or not?

[johnyd]

GJrHi, I was trail in the back court. Long pass to the front court on my sideline. Defender tips the ball away, takes one dribble and loses control. As the ball is headed out of bounds at half court she leaps from inbounds smacks the ball into the back court. Her momentum carries her out of bounds. She runs down the side line out of bounds about 4 strides, comes back in bounds and picks up her dribble. No one else touches the ball. I blow it dead.
At half time my partner says that was a legal play and she had every right to pick up the dribble. What sayest though??

[Nevadaref]

Your partner was correct. Consult the play rulings under 7.1.1 in the NFHS Case Book.

[Loudwhistle2]

Originally Posted by johnyd

GJrHi, I was trail in the back court. Long pass to the front court on my sideline. Defender tips the ball away, takes one dribble and loses control. As the ball is headed out of bounds at half court she leaps from inbounds smacks the ball into the back court. Her momentum carries her out of bounds. She runs down the side line out of bounds about 4 strides, comes back in bounds and picks up her dribble. No one else touches the ball. I blow it dead.
At half time my partner says that was a legal play and she had every right to pick up the dribble. What sayest though??

Your partner is correct as long as she put one foot down on the court with the other foot in the air (needs to establish inbounds status) and then picked up her dribble.

[BillyMac]

If a player's momentum carries him or her off the court, he or she can be the first player to touch the ball after returning inbounds. That player must not have left the court voluntarily and must immediately return inbounds. That player must have something in and nothing out. It is not necessary to have both feet back inbounds. It is a violation for a player to intentionally leave the court for an unauthorized reason.

[maven]

Originally Posted by Loudwhistle2

Your partner is correct as long as she put one foot down on the court with the other foot in the air (needs to establish inbounds status) and then picked up her dribble.

Your ruling is spot on, but this expression is misleading and does not appear in the rulebook. The ruling is based on the location of the player, inbounds or out. If she's inbounds (something in, nothing out), then the play is legal. If not, then you have an OOB violation.