Ignore timeout request?

[Adam]

Originally Posted by WDEvol

Seen in a Division I NCAAW game yesterday -

Team B trailing by 10 or so, last minute of 2H. B is out of timeouts. B1 trapped on sideline in front of A's bench, and she calls for timeout. Official says "no, you don't have one." A's bench goes ballistic. Effect of the play was that A's players stopped trapping once B1 tried to call the timeout, ball went into the frontcourt and B2 was fouled on a shot attempt. Was more or less a four-point swing on that play.

I've only worked NFHS rules, but is this something that NCAAW officials are instructed to do? Not grant the timeout request so as to avoid calling a T? It was always my understanding that a team could always request a timeout, but at the expense of a technical foul if they were out.

The play didn't affect the outcome of the game, but this was a VERY veteran Division I official (at least 30+ years) and I was pretty stunned to see it happen.

I've never heard of instructions at any level to ignore a timeout here. I've seen officials advocate doing it that way, but that is always personal philosophy. The reason you don't ignore it is precisely what happened in this play.