If Rene Portland were not the coach of Penn State's women's basketball team, she says she would be a basketball official.

As a woman official, Portland would be even more of a minority than she is as a woman basketball coach, and she and official supervisors across the country are wondering why.

The International Association of Approved Basketball Officials has more than 14,400 members -- but only about 500 of the registered officials are women. There is a wide range of opinions about the low number of women in basketball officiating. Paul Francis, executive director of IAABO, said he feels women are more sensitive than men.

"The proximity of the fans and the coaches in basketball may discourage women," he said.

Francis said he feels women tend to have more "domestic duties" and do not have the time to devote to moving up in the ranks, adding that he does hope for the number of women officials to increase.

Although most women officials agree that family and job commitments do limit the time spent on the court, they say that pressure from the fans or coaches is not the reason for the lack of women basketball officials.

Marcy Weston, national coordinator of women's basketball officiating, said she does not feel pressure discourages women from being basketball officials, although self-confidence is a major factor.

"There are men and women who can't take the pressure," Weston said. "It's not a gender issue -- it's a personality and a resiliency issue."

Weston said that the "good-old-boys" network, starting in junior high and high school officiating, is a bigger reason why women are less likely to be officials at the college level.

Women have trouble breaking into the varsity games in high school, so they do not have the experience to move on to collegiate games, Weston said.

Patty Broderick, Big Ten supervisor of women's basketball officials, also points away from pressure as the reason why women do not go into officiating.

"I've been officiating for 20 years, and pressure is what you make of it," Broderick said. "Women are not afraid of whatever may come out of the stands or happen on the court."

She said she feels that more efforts are needed to promote officiating. Broderick sends letters to graduating college basketball players telling them about officiating opportunities to make women aware of the chance to stay involved with basketball.

Despite these strategies, there has not been a dramatic increase in the number of women officials in recent years -- something Portland said she does not understand.

"Big deal -- people yell at you for two hours," she said. "When it's over, you take a shower and go home."

Portland does see the "good-old-boys" network as a problem, but adds that men are not the only ones to blame in this situation. She said she does not see enough women even trying to break into officiating.

However, without an abundance of women mentors already in the field, it is difficult to convince young women to enter officiating.

"There are a lot of men who have taken young men and women officials in to mentor," Weston said. "But that is not common."

June Courteau, a basketball official for 22 years, agreed that the current women officials need to do more to provide role models for young women in officiating.

"The women need to go out and bring them in because the guys aren't going to do it," she said.

But all agree it will be a battle to increase the number of women officials consistently in the "big" Division I basketball games --especially with the pervasive attitude of some in the field that gender differentiates the ability to officiate.

Leonard Czarnecki, executive director of the Collegiate Athletic Officials Association, said that his organization tries hard to recruit women officials, but he said he feels women do not want to deal with the pressure of basketball officiating.

"For some reason in basketball, that enclosed claustrophobia pit discourages women," Czarnecki said.

However, to a woman like Sally Bell, who has been officiating basketball for 19 years, the "claustrophobia pit" is not a factor.

"I feel pressure from myself to be the best that I can be," Bell said. "It's not a male-female thing."

She added that a woman may also need to perform better to get the same recognition as a male peer --a sentiment Weston echoes.

"You've never heard anyone say,'That's a lousy man official,' " Weston said. "But you do hear, 'That's a lousy woman official.' "