Conference opponents of perennial women's basketball powerhouses Tennessee and Connecticut are stepping up their efforts to keep a home-court advantage when playing those schools.
Tennessee and UConn have sat atop the NCAA's home-game attendance records for years, and both programs have developed rabid fan bases that are willing to travel, especially for weekend games to schools located within a few hours' drive of their homes. Officials from opposing schools say the result, too often, has become virtual home games for the Lady Vols and Huskies.
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| When Diana Taurasi and UConn come to town, traveling fans can turn a road game into a Huskies love-fest. |
Rutgers, which hosts UConn on Feb. 14, has sent letters from Athletic Director Bob Mulcahy and coach Vivian Stringer to ticket holders in other sports and to corporate partners asking them to purchase tickets to the game. Ticket prices for the UConn game have been lowered to $5 from $10 as extra incentive for Rutgers supporters to buy tickets early, said Rutgers assistant AD Kevin McConnell.
Tickets available to UConn so far have been limited to the Big East Conference-required minimum, McConnell said, adding that if there are any seats available when individual-game tickets go on sale, there won't be many.
At Seton Hall, school officials said they have fielded calls from UConn fans and alumni tour-group operators, some wanting to buy between 700 and 1,000 tickets. School officials, however, sold out this past Saturday's UConn game in advance by using their own targeted marketing efforts.
Officials at Kentucky have even come up with a slogan for their effort to bolster UK support for Thursday's game against Tennessee: Keep the Orange Out. Micheline Schott, UK's assistant athletic director for marketing, said the goal of their outreach efforts is to sell out 8,509-seat Memorial Coliseum. As of last week, about 7,000 tickets had been sold, she said, adding that some tickets could have been bought by Tennessee fans since tickets have been made available to the general public via the Internet.
Joan Cronan, Tennessee women's athletic director, said she doesn't mind that the Blue is trying to keep the Orange out. In fact, she said, she encourages it, because it's good for women's basketball.
"I think that's exciting," she said. "I love competition. I think it's great that they're doing that."
