Kinnick Crossover Sets Attendance Mark

Iowa Women's Basketball Topped DePaul in Sunday Exhibition at Football Stadium

A general view as fans celebrate during the Crossover at Kinnick women's basketball scrimmage between Iowa and DePaul, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. (Joseph Cress/For the Register / USA TODAY NETWORK)

Lisa Bluder thought 9,000 fans at an outdoor ceremony was impressive, so she came up with an idea.

Play an outdoor basketball game at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium.

Bluder, Iowa’s women’s basketball coach, got her wish, got more than six times as many fans, and made history in the process.

Iowa’s 94-72 exhibition win over DePaul in Sunday’s “Crossover at Kinnick" drew 55,646 fans to Kinnick Stadium, setting a new single-game women’s basketball attendance record.

“You know, you can have an idea and it could fall flat if nobody shows up,” Bluder said, smiling in the post-game press conference. “But, man, Hawk fans showed up today. Fifty-five thousand, breaking the record, getting to play outside ... It was a dream. It really was. It was just fabulous.”

The Hawkeyes, coming off an appearance in the national championship game last season, were going to be a hot ticket, and Bluder knew that. Every home game this season is a sellout, so why not try to fill a football stadium?

Kinnick was completely filled, but it was as boisterous as a football game day. And the Hawkeyes fed off that.

“Fifty-five thousand? That's pretty incredible,” said Iowa guard Caitlin Clark, who had a triple-double of 34 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. “It’s hard to kind of imagine yourself playing basketball in front of 55,000.”

The post-game words all sounded the same. It was a dream, and the Hawkeyes lived it.

They dressed in the football locker room, came out of the tunnel to “Back in Black,” participated in the end-of-the-first-quarter “Wave” to the kids at the Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

It was the perfect beginning to a season in which the Hawkeyes are expected to make another deep postseason run behind Clark, the reigning national player of the year.

“It's hard to really wrap your head around everything that's happening,” Clark said of the day. “Obviously you can imagine it, but it's never the same until you're actually in the experience enjoying it and loving it.

Other takeaways from the day:

IN HER ELEMENT: Clark made Kinnick into her own stage, which was to be expected.

She dropped in a logo 3-pointer early in the second quarter, which led to one of the first big crowd eruptions of the day.

Clark eased into the game, a sign of her experience and her talent, before taking over.

She did have an air ball on a free throw, which was understandable given the swirling wind in the north end zone.

“It was a little windy,” Clark said. "The cold was perfectly fine. It was a bit chilly, and I’m glad we play an indoor sport. I promise I'll never air-ball a free throw again. The wind took that one, for sure."

POST PRESENCE: Bluder asked before the season to not compare center Addison O’Grady to Monika Czinano, who anchored the post for the Hawkeyes for the last four seasons.

All O’Grady did was go out and drop a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds.

It is going to be hard to replace Czinano, so the best thing the Hawkeyes can do is recreate her numbers. O’Grady and Sharon Goodman, who played eight minutes, combined for 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting along with 15 rebounds. Bluder will take that production every night.

DAVIS RESPONDS: Molly Davis, who was Clark’s backup last season after transferring at Central Michigan, has drawn praise from Bluder since the summer for how she has emerged as an offensive threat.

Davis had 13 points, going 5-of-7 from the field, and added five rebounds and an assist in 21 ½ minutes.

“She's just playing at a different level,” Bluder said. “Her confidence is there. I think last year she deferred to people that have been here for a little bit. Now she’s not deferring anymore. And she's owning it.”

THE PERFECT SHOW: Bluder was asked if this was something that could be an annual event.

“I haven't even thought about that yet,” she said. “I really haven't. So we'll see.”

Second acts are never as good as the first, and perhaps that’s something Bluder will consider.

What happened at Kinnick on Sunday worked to perfection. And that can be hard to duplicate.