Bowling Green State University Athletics
Women's Basketball to Compete in NCAA Challenge
January 09, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 9, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - When the BGSU women's basketball team plays host to MAC East rival Ohio this Saturday, January 12, there'll be more than just a game victory on the line. Sure the contest features the two pre-season MAC East Division favorites, but on this particular day, the fans in the stands will be competing for a victory of their own in the NCAA "Pack the House Challenge", an ongoing nationwide women's basketball attendance competition taking place throughout the month.
Nearly 80% of the nation's Division I women's basketball programs signed up to participate in the competition, including BGSU, Akron, Ball State, Buffalo, Kent State, Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo and Western Michigan out of the Mid-American Conference. The premise for each participating institution was simple; select a game/date at which an attempt is made to break your single-game all-time or 2006-07 season record. Based on the final results nationwide, 32 conference champions and one overall national champion will be determined by the NCAA.
According to the record books, BGSU's current all-time single-game women's basketball attendance mark was set on March 17, 1993 when the Falcons dropped a 69-67 decision to Florida in an NCAA Tournament game played in front of 4,408. The current regular season single-game mark was set on February 19, 1992, when 4,013 Falcon faithful witnessed an 87-83 OT loss to rival Toledo.
With the addition of the Falcon Club hospitality area in Anderson Arena this season, the building has seen its seating capacity reduced from 4,700 to 3,700. Given such, BGSU will attempt to break its 2006-07 season single-game high attendance mark of 2,323 set on February 4, 2007 in a thrilling come-from-behind 73-62 victory over rival Toledo as part of the challenge.
BGSU Assistant AD - Marketing Brian Delehoy seemed confident that Falcon fans would show well this weekend: "Challenge or no challenge, the support for our women's basketball program has been phenomenal over the past few seasons, and with the team once again entering conference play on the heels of an impressive early-season record, I expect our home crowds to keep growing as the season progresses."
Delehoy went on to add, "This is an opportunity for us to really celebrate our fans, so we jumped at the chance to take part in this competition. It's a tribute to their enduring support for BGSU Women's Basketball."
Through four home games (three non-conference and an exhibition contest)the women's basketball attendance is sitting at a healthy average of 1,367. The single-game high of 2,228 on Wednesday, December 5, 2007 was seen when the Falcons played host to then #22/now #14-ranked Note Dame, a nail-biting 86-84 OT contest that ended in favor of the Irish on a buzzer-beater.
Coming off a 2006-07 season that saw a program record average of 1,607 fans per game (including an average of 1,391 through the first four home dates/games), Falcon fans appear to be well on their way toward once again rewriting the BGSU record books.
##BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL##
