Maryland Women's Basketball Among Top 10 in National Attendance
8/11/2006 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Aug. 11, 2006
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The NCAA recently released its national attendance figures and the Maryland women's basketball team ranked ninth overall in total attendance, drawing over 200,000 spectators to 38 games last season. The Terps also placed just out of the top 20 in average home attendance with an all-time high 77,010 fans supporting the Terps at Comcast Center on their road to winning the 2006 National Championship.
"It's been great to see a rise in attendance over our four seasons at Maryland," said head coach Brenda Frese. "I have always said we have the best fans in the country and to have them support this great team every game is what makes Comcast Center an exciting place to play."
Maryland continues to improve its fan support, playing in front of 10,000+ fans five times last season, including posting the second-largest crowd in ACC women's basketball history, drawing 16,097 fans to its Jan. 8, 2006 contest vs. Duke. The Terps were 21st in the nation in home attendance in 2005-06, the second-straight year they have placed in the top 25.
The Terps also played in front of over 10,000 spectators on two of the biggest stages of the season. Over 10,000+ showed up for the semifinal and championship games of the ACC Tournament. A sell-out crowd of 18,642 fans witnessed the Terps defeat UNC in the Final Four, then capture the NCAA Championship crown with a 13-point comeback and a dramatic overtime victory over the Blue Devils in Boston.
After placing 93rd in average home attendance (1,286) in 2000-01, Maryland has moved up to 70th (1,681), 53rd (2,051) Frese's first season at the helm in 2002-03, 45th (2,584), 23rd (4,169) and moving up two spots to 21st in 2005-06 with an average home attendance of 4,813 fans over 16 games.
Maryland broke the previous mark set in 2004-05 by nearly 15,000 fans. Last year, over 62,000 fans attended 15 home games.
Maryland is one of two ACC teams to finish among the top 25 in average home attendance. Duke was 16th last season, averaging just over 6,000 fans in 13 games. The Blue Devils were also fourth in the nation in total attendance at 233,183 in 35 total contests.
All-Time Maryland Women's Basketball Attendance Records
Year Games Total Avg. Ranking 2005-06 16 77,010 4,813 21st 2004-05 15 62,542 4,169 23rd 2003-04 15 38,759 2,584 45th 2002-03 14 24,612 2,051 53rd 2001-02 15 25,200 1,681 70th 2000-01 17 21,870 1,286 93rd 1999-00 14 19,701 1,407 82nd 1998-99 15 19,401 1,293 81st 1997-98 13 14,873 1,144 85th 1996-97 13 20,124 1,342 1995-96 13 15,301 1,177 60th 1994-95 16 13,334 833 1993-94 13 17,541 1,349 1992-93 15 32,708 2,181 1991-92 14 35,592 2,542 1990-91 13 11,385 876
2005-06 Women's Basketball Attendance Leaders
Home Gms Total Attend. Avg. 1. Tennessee 14 214,980 15,356 2. Texas Tech 14 167,081 11,935 3. Connecticut 22 253,465 11,521 4. New Mexico 18 186,376 10,354 5. Minnesota 14 116,601 8,329 6. Baylor 13 100,316 7,717 7. Iowa State 16 122,679 7,667 8. Oklahoma 13 99,188 7,630 9. Purdue 14 101,700 7,264 10. Michigan State 15 101,802 6,787 11. Notre Dame 13 85,808 6,601 12. Penn State 14 90,898 6,493 13. Missouri State 18 114,135 6,341 14. Kansas State 19 119,333 6,281 15. LSU 15 94,090 6,273 16. Duke 13 78,948 6,073 17. Wisconsin 15 90,325 6,016 18. Texas 15 84,544 5,636 19. Ohio State 17 89,431 5,261 20. Kentucky 15 77,411 5,161 21. MARYLAND 16 77,010 4,813 22. Rutgers 12 55,312 4,609 23. Vanderbilt 16 65,693 4,106 24. Georgia 11 44,801 4,703 25. Iowa 14 54,881 3,920
ALL GAMES (home, road, neutral)
Games Attendance 1. Tennessee 36 365,723 2. Connecticut 37 353,302 3. LSU 35 235,742 4. Duke 35 233,183 5. Oklahoma 36 231,864 6. Texas Tech 29 226,878 7. Baylor 33 218,969 8. New Mexico 32 214,452 9. MARYLAND 38 211,612 10. Michigan State 34 203,251
