Featured image credit: Alan Light/CC BY 2.0 DEED/Edited for size
A new single-game attendance record has been set for women’s basketball after 55,646 fans turned out to watch the NCAA fixture between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the DePaul Blue Demons at Kinnick Stadium.
Kinnick Stadium has a capacity of over 69,000 and primarily serves as the home of Iowa’s American football team, but yesterday (Sunday) it was transformed into a basketball venue for the history-making match-up.
Iowa defeated DePaul 94-72 in the exhibition game, which was dubbed The Crossover at Kinnick. It marked the first time a women’s basketball game had been held outdoors at an American football stadium.
Caitlin Clark, the national player of the year, was the star of the show, finishing with a triple-double. Clark scored 34 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
Yesterday’s crowd was almost double the previous NCAA women’s basketball attendance record of 29,619, which was set during the championship game at San Antonio’s Alamodome between Connecticut and Oklahoma in 2002.
Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said: “What a day for our state and the game of women’s basketball. 55,000 people in attendance is crazy. I appreciate our administration for backing my idea and not giving any push back on the idea. Today was everything we could’ve imagined and I’m happy for our girls because they got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
In August, the Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball team set a new world record for a women’s sporting event as a whopping 92,003 fans attended its 3-0 win over Omaha in an outdoor match at Memorial Stadium.
The crowd surpassed the previous world record, which was set last year as 91,648 fans attended the UEFA Women’s Champions League football match between Barcelona and Wolfsburg at the Camp Nou.
The previous record for a women’s sporting event in the US was set during the 1999 FIFA World Cup final between the US and China at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. That match attracted a crowd of 90,185.
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