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The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan
The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

Iowa women’s basketball sets all-time viewership record in 71-69 victory over UConn

Friday night’s Final Four matchup drew 14.2 million average viewers and peaked at 17 million viewers.
Chris Meglio, Sports Reporter
April 6, 2024
Ayrton Breckenridge
Iowa women’s basketball practice drills during a day of press conferences and open practices ahead of a NCAA Championship game between No. 1 Iowa and No. 1 South Carolina at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday, April 6, 2024. The Hawkeyes and the Gamecocks face off at 2:00 p.m. CT.

The Iowa women’s basketball team broke their own viewership record once again. 

Friday night’s Final Four matchup between No. 1 Iowa and No. 3 UConn was the most-watched men’s or women’s college basketball game on ESPN on record with 14.2 million average viewers and a peak of 17 million viewers. This broke the previous record of 12.3 million average viewers set in the Elite Eight matchup between Iowa and LSU just five days ago, according to ESPN.  

Not only did the Iowa-UConn game break the women’s college basketball viewership record, but it was also ESPN’s highest audience for any basketball game, ESPN’s second-best non-football telecast ever, and ESPN’s most-viewed college event ever on ESPN+. 

The Hawkeyes topped the Huskies, 71-69, to secure a spot in the NCAA Championship game for the second year in a row. They will take on South Carolina in a rematch of last year’s Final Four game, where Iowa took the 77-73 victory. The Gamecocks defeated NC State, 78-59, on Friday to advance to the title game. 

Saturday afternoon, Iowa and South Carolina held open practices at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio, ahead of the NCAA Championship game, drawing a crowd of 19,000 fans. 

The NCAA’s decision to allow an open practice is an effort to promote the title game and the stars that will play in the game, more specifically Iowa superstar guard Caitlin Clark. It is expected that the Iowa-South Carolina matchup will break the 14.2 million viewership record. 

The women’s national championship game will take place on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT.

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