Ernst introduces resolution to recognize Iowa women’s basketball for Crossover at Kinnick

Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley are leading a resolution congratulating the Iowa women’s basketball team for record-setting attendance at Crossover at Kinnick exhibition game.

Liam Halawith, Senior News and Politics Editor

October 24, 2023

Grace Smith

Iowa guard Caitlin Clark shoots a 3-pointer during Crossover at Kinnick, a women’s exhibition basketball game between Iowa and DePaul, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Clark shot 3-of-9 in 3-pointers. The Hawkeyes defeated the Blue Demons, 94-72.

U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, introduced a resolution on Tuesday congratulating Iowa women’s basketball for its record-setting attendance at Crossover at Kinnick on Oct. 15.

The event nearly doubled the NCAA Women’s basketball attendance record with 55, 646 fans in attendance for the exhibition game between the Hawkeyes and DePaul Blue Devils at Kinnick Stadium

The previous women’s basketball attendance record was set in 2002 during a game between UConn and Oklahoma that attracted 29,619 fans.

The attendance record for the largest women’s sporting event was set by the Nebraska volleyball team on Aug. 31 with 92,003 fans at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The proceeds from the Crossover at Kinnick event went to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. During the game, UI President Barbara Wilson and Interim Athletic Director Beth Goetz presented a check for $250,000 to the hospital.

The formal resolution offered recognition to the record-breaking women’s basketball game and recognized the importance of women’s sports, according to a copy of the resolution obtained by The Daily Iowan.

“I am beyond proud of our incredible, record-breaking women’s basketball team at the University of Iowa,” Ernst said in a statement to the DI. “The achievements of this program are an inspiration for Iowans and female athletes everywhere. I will always cheer on Iowa’s teams and stand up to protect opportunities for women in sports!”

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, joined Ernst in the resolution on Tuesday.

Ernst is also an original cosponsor of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act which bans the recipients of federal funding from operating, sponsoring, or facilitating athletic programs that allow transgender women to participate in Women’s sporting events.

The bill is sitting in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions after being introduced on March 1.

In May, Ernst criticized the Biden administration for its proposed changes to Title IX that would give protection to transgender women playing in women’s sports at public schools that receive federal funding.