Story highlights Cruz calls a "basketball rim" a "basketball ring"

Palin responded, "It's smarter to actually put the ball through the HOOP before you claim victory"

Washington (CNN) Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin poked at Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for his basketball faux pas on Tuesday night, joking that putting a ball through a hoop as opposed to a "ring" is a "smarter" path to victory.

The Texas senator, who has repeatedly said " Hoosiers" -- a 1980s flick about an underdog Indiana high school basketball team -- is one of his favorite movies, was in the the gym where the movie was filmed.

While campaigning, Cruz asked an aide to measure the "basketball rim" in the court -- a reference to the movie -- and then later said "basketball ring."

"You know, the amazing thing is, that basketball ring here in Indiana, it's the same height as it is in New York City and every other place in this country," Cruz said in Knightstown, Indiana. "And there is nothing that Hoosiers cannot do."

Palin -- herself a high school basketball player who is now backing Cruz's rival, Donald Trump -- responded to Cruz on Wednesday, writing on Facebook, "It's smarter to actually put the ball through the HOOP before you claim victory."

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