Pac-10 To Hold Women's Hoops Tourney At USC's Galen Center

Galen Center To Host Pac-10 Women’s Basketball Tourney

The Pac-10 will move its 2009 and 2010 women's basketball tournaments from HP Pavilion in San Jose to USC's Galen Center, according to Michelle Smith of the S.F. CHRONICLE. HP Pavilion has been the site of the tournament since ’03 and will host the event in '08. Galen Center opened last fall and has a “significantly smaller capacity than HP Pavilion, at around 10,500.” The tournament has “struggled with marketing efforts and attendance -- averaging approximately 3,700 fans over the four-day event.” The women's tournament will be moved back one week to run concurrent with the men's event, which will be played at Staples Center, and Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen said, “We anticipate fans from each institution will attend the games of both of their teams, and participate in ancillary events for both tournaments.” Smith notes the move brings the women's tournament “back to a campus site for the first time since the inaugural tournament was held at Oregon's McArthur Court” in ’02 (S.F. CHRONICLE, 6/6).