Iowa shattered the attendance record for a women’s basketball game with its exhibition against DePaul at Kinnick Stadium on Sunday.
55,646 people were inside Iowa’s football stadium to watch the Hawkeyes play DePaul in the Crossover at Kinnick, a preseason charity exhibition game that raised money for the adjacent Iowa Children’s Hospital.
And there it is! The #Hawkeyes celebrate @IowaWBB and women's sports and set a new NCAA women's basketball game attendance record. pic.twitter.com/xZQFV2UWvh
— Big Ten Women's Basketball (@B1Gwbball) October 15, 2023
The exhibition surpassed the previous record for attendance at a women’s basketball game by more than 26,000 people. The previous record of 29,619 was set at the 2002 national championship between UConn and Oklahoma at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
"Nowhere, nowhere in the country could this happen except for at the University of Iowa."@LisaBluder address the record-breaking crowd. pic.twitter.com/TS4lNXEZtB
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 15, 2023
It’s the second time in less than two months that a Big Ten school has set a women’s sports attendance record by playing a game inside a football stadium. Nebraska volleyball set the world record for any women’s sporting event when it hosted 92,003 people inside Memorial Stadium for a match against Omaha in August.
Asked last month if Ohio State could potentially hold a similar event with its women’s basketball team, Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said there had been conversations about doing so but that Ohio State wants to come up with something “that would kind of maybe be unique to us or to Ohio State or to Columbus that we think could really be a big hit.”
“I think that as our fanbase has really grown and the interest in our program in the city and the community has expanded, I would love for us to get creative and try some things like that. And I think it'd be very well-received here,” McGuff said. “We're gonna continue to have those conversations.”
Iowa is coming off of a run to the national championship game last season, where the Hawkeyes fell to LSU. Led by superstar guard Caitlin Clark, the Hawkeyes are expected to be a national title contender once again this year.
The reigning national player of the year, Clark already looked to be in prime form on Sunday as she put up a triple-double in Iowa’s 94-72 win over DePaul, tallying 34 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
