Caitlin Clark delivered another historic moment for women’s sports, as Iowa set a new record on Sunday afternoon. The Iowa women’s basketball team set a new attendance record in an exhibition game against DePaul at Kinnick Stadium.
The Hawkeyes nearly filled out the entire football stadium even with the court positioned vertically in the north endzone. The event was called “Crossover at Kinnick” and drew 55,646 fans, which doubled the previous record of 29,619 for a women’s basketball game, set by Connecticut and Oklahoma in the 2002 NCAA Championship.
Iowa vs DePaul Sets New Women’s Basketball Attendance Record
The exhibition game on Sunday sets an NCAA women’s basketball attendance record. While it was still a huge milestone in women’s sports, it fell short of Nebraska’s volleyball attendance record set in August, which had 92,003 fans in the stands.
However, Iowa’s game at Kinnick Stadium doubled the women’s college basketball record set back in 2002.
Even with a crowd of 50,000, Iowa kept up one of the most important traditions in sports.
After the first quarter, both teams and the crowd stopped and waved up to the Children’s Hospital which looks over the stadium.
Iowa made sure to participate in the college football tradition and the athletic department even donated $250,000 to the hospital.
Iowa’s Head Coach Lisa Bluder Idea Comes True
Iowa’s head coach, Lisa Bluder, came up with the idea to play outdoors at Kinnick Stadium. Her hope was to set the women’s basketball single-game attendance record.
Not only did her idea make history but Clark and the Iowa basketball team appear to be elevating the entire sport.
Bluder’s idea for an outdoor game came to her when 9,000 fans showed up to the campus celebration in April. Sunday’s game was played under partly cloudy skies but the weather conditions still managed to affect shooting from both teams.
The wind played a huge part in the game as the Hawkeyes went 36-of-73 from the field and just 6-of-22 from 3-point range. The squad also shot just 53% from the free-throw line. Even National Player of the Year, Catilin Clark airballed a free throw shot during the exhibition game.
With that being said, it’s probably still a long shot to see teams start playing outdoors during the regular season.
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