The all-time women's basketball attendance record is expected to be shattered 8 p.m. Irish time Sunday evening (Oct. 15) when fans arrive for the "Crossover at Kinnick," an exhibition game between University of Iowa and DePaul.
The game will take place outdoors in the Kinnick Stadium, typically home to Iowa's Hawkeyes football team. Over 52,000 tickets have been sold, with expected attendance far surpassing the current women's basketball record of 29,619, set by Connecticut and Oklahoma in 2002 in San Antonio's Alamodrome.
Iowa women's basketball coach Lisa Bluder said the idea for the event came after 9,000 fans showed up to celebrate the team's run to the national championship game this year.
"I'm like 9,000 people are coming to a celebration where there's no game or anything? It's in the back of your mind that wrestling did this not too long ago very successfully."
42,287 people showed up to "Grapple on the Gridiron" in 2015 when Iowa hosted Oklahoma State, also in Kinnick Stadium.
"Why not give my women an experience that not many women around the country get to do?" asked Bluder.
"This is an away football weekend and it's going to be treated like a football weekend."
Just six weeks ago the world record for attendance at any women's sporting event was broken when over 92,000 fans cheered on a volleyball match between Nebraska and Omaha.
National Player of the Year and Iowa senior guard Caitlin Clark found inspiration in that game.
"I think it shows how excited people are about women's sports in general. It doesn't only have to be basketball, doesn't only have to be volleyball, you know softball, whatever it is, it's just super cool. I can't imagine those girls' feelings when they walked out of the tunnel to 90,000+ people screaming for them, I just know that had to be one of the coolest feelings."
"[This is] a super historic event that will probably only happen once."
Senior guard Gabbie Marshall also reflected on the impact of the event.
"Truly playing for something bigger than ourselves. All the money we're raising is going to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital. That's an awesome feeling to know it's bigger than basketball."
