Iowa women’s basketball sees strong contingent of Hawkeye fans at Target Center

The Big Ten set an attendance record in its evening session Friday night with 8,577 fans — most of them from Iowa.

Matt Sindt

Iowa players take the court before a women’s basketball game between No. 7 Iowa and Purdue at Target Center in Minneapolis on Friday, March 3, 2023. The Hawkeyes defeated the Boilermakers, 69-58.

Chloe Peterson, Sports Editor
March 4, 2023

MINNEAPOLIS — On Friday night, the Target Center was Carver-Hawkeye Arena North.

At least, that’s what Hawkeye women’s basketball head coach Lisa Bluder thinks.

“What I want to do is thank our fans,” Bluder said to open her postgame press conference on Friday. “I mean, they were amazing. It was Hawkeye Carver Arena North up here. It was amazing to go out there and see all the Hawkeye fans, and we’re so grateful for all that support.”

Fans react during a women’s basketball game between No. 7 Iowa and Purdue at Target Center in Minneapolis on Friday, March 3, 2023. The Hawkeyes defeated the Boilermakers, 69-58. (Matt Sindt)

Doors opened to the Target Center 60 minutes before Iowa’s game tipped off against Purdue on Friday night, and fans decked out in Black and Gold immediately streamed into the arena. 

The 2023 edition of the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament, which is in Minneapolis, is closer to home for Hawkeye fans — only a 4.5 hour drive from Iowa City.

Before this year, the conference tournament was at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis — a 5.5 hour drive with a time change. 

“I think it’s definitely an easier drive than Indianapolis, but when we went there the last two years, we’ve been in the championship game, and we still have had a lot of fans show up there,” junior guard Caitlin Clark said. “So, I only knew it was going to be better.”

But she didn’t expect the arena to be filled to the brim with Hawkeye fans.

Black and Gold surrounded the stands on both sides of the court, and raucous cheers filled the area any time a Hawkeye made a basket or got a call their way. During the game, the sound decibels within the Target Center rose up to 90 decibels.

 

“I’m not so sure I would have been expecting both sides to be all gold today, and I know it’s going to be even more tomorrow,” Clark said. “But it doesn’t surprise me. The way they’ve supported women’s basketball in my three years here and the time [Monika Czinano’s] been here has been incredible.”

Despite this being Iowa women’s basketball’s first game at the Target Center, it felt like a home court for the Hawkeyes.

In turn, it was like a road game for the Boilermakers, who only had a small contingent of Purdue fans behind their bench. But the Boilermakers are used to large road crowds — they played games at Iowa and Indiana this season.

Fans react to a 3-pointer during a women’s basketball game between No. 7 Iowa and Purdue at Target Center in Minneapolis on Friday, March 3, 2023. The Hawkeyes defeated the Boilermakers, 69-58. (Matt Sindt)

“Obviously a road game for us, but we played in front of 11,500 at their place,” Purdue head coach Katie Gearlds said. “We played in front of 17,000 at Indiana. We had 15,000 at our place. We played in front of 8,600 at Ohio State. Women’s basketball in the Big Ten has been really, really special in terms of attendance and the support. We didn’t expect anything different today. We knew what we were walking into.”

The Big Ten broke an attendance record with 8,577 fans at the Target Center for the evening session, which included Iowa-Purdue and Illinois-Maryland. And most of those fans came from Iowa.

The Hawkeyes took down the Boilermakers, 69-58, to advance to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. Second-seeded Iowa will take on third-seeded Maryland, who beat Illinois, 73-58, in the final game of the Friday night slate. 

Iowa and Maryland will tip off at approximately 4 p.m. at the Target Center.