Women's Hoops Blog

Inane commentary on a game that deserves far better


Monday, March 26, 2007

Where would you have found 11,000 fans screaming their heads off at a women's basketball game yesterday? Not in Dallas (3,875). Not in Dayton (9,023). Give up? Try Wyoming.

The Cowgirls have hosted three WNIT games. On Thursday, a record crowd of 7,362 saw Wyoming's 64-62 win over Oregon. That total was easily topped by the 11,253 who watched the team topple South Dakota St. and move into the WNIT Final Four. Said WNIT assistant director Renee Carlson, "I think it was the loudest crowd I have ever heard for a basketball game. Truly a great atmosphere for women’s basketball!"

Interestingly enough, through the first three rounds of the WNIT, South Dakota State and Wyoming accounted for 36.8 percent of the entire tournament attendance of 68,990. While it would have been nice to have both teams on opposite sides of the draw, the WNIT tries to pair teams regionally in order to keep costs down.

Fortunately, the WNIT will get a chance to continue to reap the benefits of the Wyoming fanbase -- the Cowgirls will face off against Kansas State (last year's Postseason champs) on Wednesday at 7pm MT. K-State advanced to the semi-finals by defeating Auburn 67-54.

The other semi-final will feature Western Kentucky and Wisconsin. Wisconsin defeated Virginia 84-78, overcoming a 14-point second-half deficit, and setting a record for wins in a season. Western Kentucky defeated Hofstra on the strength of Crystal Kelly's 28-point effort. The semi-final game will be broadcast in the Kentucky area on WKYU-PBS.

The WNIT championship is set for Saturday, 3pm ET, and will be televised. Look for it on: Fox College Sports, Fox New England, Fox Rocky Mountain, Turner South FSN, Comcast Sports West, Comcast Michigan, MediaCom and Metro Sports.