Two Women’s College Basketball Players Score in Opponents’ Baskets on Same Day

An extraordinary opening-week double take

November 7, 2026 · 7:00 a.m. Central

College basketball fans witnessed one of the most astonishing coincidences in NCAA history on Friday when two Division I women’s basketball players accidentally scored layups into their opponents’ baskets within barely an hour of each other.

The rare optical blunders—one occurring in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and the other in Las Cruces, New Mexico—instantly captivated sports social media. While inadvertent own-goals happen occasionally in soccer or hockey, an uncontested layup into the wrong basket at the Division I collegiate level is virtually unheard of—let alone occurring twice on the same afternoon.

Remarkably, while one mistake contributed to a runaway blowout, the second unfolded in the frantic closing seconds of a one-point game, nearly costing a team the victory before a buzzer-beating rescue.

Heartbreak avoided in Las Cruces

The higher-stakes blunder occurred at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, where New Mexico State was locked in a tense fourth-quarter battle against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds.

Trailing 61-60 with only 24 seconds left on the game clock, New Mexico State junior guard Emma Christiano made a brilliant defensive read, jumping an inbound pass and stripping the ball cleanly. But in the disorienting rush of the backcourt turnover, Christiano turned 180 degrees and sprinted toward Southern Utah’s hoop, floating in an uncontested layup that counted for the Thunderbirds and stretched their lead to 63-60 with 20.3 seconds remaining.

Christiano realized the catastrophic error the moment the ball dropped through the net, burying her face in her hands. Yet the Aggies refused to fold. Rushing upcourt, freshman forward Stacy Chovino drew a foul, sank two pressure free throws, and after another turnover, drove the lane for a dramatic game-winning floater with 2.1 seconds on the clock, securing an improbable 64-63 triumph for New Mexico State.

“I don't think I've ever experienced an emotional roller coaster like those final twenty seconds,” Aggies head coach Jody Adams remarked after the win. “Emma made an incredible defensive play, got turned around, but this team rallied around her and Stacy stepped up huge.”

Inbound confusion at Bud Walton Arena

Less than an hour earlier, an almost identical lapse took place inside Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville during a matchup between Northwestern State and the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Midway through the opening quarter, the Lady Demons were struggling against Arkansas’s aggressive full-court press. After Northwestern State secured a defensive rebound, sophomore guard Karma Wynn cut toward the baseline to receive a bounce pass under Arkansas’s rim.

Thinking she was on an offensive fast break, Wynn gathered the ball and smoothly executed a right-handed reverse layup into Arkansas’s basket. The home crowd and Razorbacks bench erupted in stunned cheers as official scorers credited two free points to Arkansas. The Razorbacks maintained total control the rest of the afternoon, cruising to an 89-59 victory.

How the NCAA rulebook handles wrong-basket points

While own-baskets are extraordinarily rare, Rule 5, Section 1 of the official NCAA Women’s Basketball Rulebook contains explicit instructions for scoring table officials when a player inadvertently scores for the opponent:

Point allocation: Two points (or three if shot from beyond the arc) are awarded to the team whose basket the ball entered.
Player statistical credit: Because a player cannot statistically score points for an opponent in the box score, the basket is officially credited to the opposing team’s on-court captain, or recorded as a generic team score depending on conference scoring conventions.
Inbound possession: Following the accidental score, play resumes normally, with the team that suffered the basket being granted baseline throw-in privileges just like after any standard field goal.

Friday timeline of the viral blunders

Events unfolded within a ninety-minute window on Friday, November 6, 2026.

3:18 p.m. CT In Fayetteville, AR, Northwestern State guard Karma Wynn catches an inbound pass and scores in Arkansas’s hoop during the first quarter.
4:10 p.m. CT Video of Wynn’s layup crosses one million views across sports highlight platforms on X.
4:42 p.m. CT In Las Cruces, NM, Emma Christiano intercepts Southern Utah’s inbound pass and scores at the wrong end, making the score 63-60 Southern Utah with 20.3 seconds left.
4:44 p.m. CT Stacy Chovino scores the final four points for New Mexico State, hitting a game-winner with 2 seconds left to rescue a 64-63 victory.

Viral highlights sweep X

Clips of both plays circulated widely across X, drawing commentary from ESPN analysts, former players, and sports commentators marveling at the statistical improbability of two identical incidents occurring within hours.

Check out women’s college basketball highlights on X

Open the post on X to view replays of the opening-week action.

Sources

Reporting corroborated from official NCAA box scores, game broadcast footage from SEC Network and ESPN+, and reporting by the New York Post, Daily Mail Sport, FOX Sports, and The Toronto Star.