Iowa Hawkeyes Crossover Game Breaks NCAA Record

Amongst the excitement of the Iowa Hawkeyes Women's Basketball Crossover game that took place at Kinnick Stadium on Sunday was a record-breaking sized crowd who showed up to cheer on the Hawkeyes, but also to raise some money for the kids at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital.

The Hawkeyes took on DePaul in an exhibition game on Sunday, October 15th, where they hoped to break an NCAA record. The previous crossover game attendance record of 29,619 was set by Connecticut and Oklahoma in the 2002 NCAA Championship game at San Antonio’s Alamodome.

The Crossover Game at Kinnick Stadium drew a record-smashing 55,646 fans.

“You know, you can have an idea and it could fall flat if nobody shows up,” Head Coach Lisa Bluder told AP News. “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.”

Those Hawkeyes fans not only got to witness Caitlyn Clark score another Triple Double, with 34 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

“It’s hard to kind of imagine yourself playing basketball in front of 55,000," she told AP.

The idea for the Crossover Game came to Coach Bluder when 9,000 fans showed up for a campus celebration when the Hawkeyes returned from their NCAA Championship game against LSU.

The weather was in the 50s, but there were some gusty winds that affected quite a few shots. The Hawkeyes were 36 of 73 from the field, but only scored 6 of 22 3-pointers and 16 of 30 free throws.

“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.”

The event raised a large amount of money for the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital, with the university being able to present a check for $250,000 during a break in the game.

Read more at AP News