why are women so fast?

one of the women's NCAA games this afternoon started 40 mins later than one of the men's. and yet they finished regulation** within seconds of each other. if i noted various times correctly, the men's game took about 2:10 and the women's 1:30. WHY?


i realize there's always some variation in lengths, but 40 mins seems like a pretty big difference. they ARE both 40-min games, right?


(had to check, since men use halves while women quarters a la WNBA)


do i have the following right?


NBA = 4 x 12

WNBA = 4 x 10

NCAA/M = 2 x 20

NCAA/W = 4 x 10


screwy! i know this changed a couple times in the 50s (NBA and NCAA both went from halves to quarters; NCAA/M later reverted; i am still unclear on the 10 min vs 12 min history), but at the end of the day, 40 mins is 40 mins. does the women's game really move that much faster?




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** women's happened to go to OT beyond that, but let's not confuse things here.