INDIANA STATE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL RANKS 63rd NATIONALLY IN ATTENDANCE

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The 2002-03 Missouri Valley Conference Champion Indiana State University women's basketball program continued to reap the benefits of its record-setting season as they catapulted up the nation's elite in attendance figures last season, as released by the NCAA earlier this week. With a late-season spike in attendance at the Hulman Center, that culminated with a record-setting crowd of 4,089 fans for the home finale against Illinois State and a huge crowd of 2,998 for the Women's NIT contest against Ball State, the Sycamores averaged 1,860 fans per home game. The average of 1,860 per game at the Hulman Center represents a increase of 849 fans per game from the previous season's average of 1,011. All told, ISU women's basketball experienced an 83.9% jump in attendance from the year before.

The Sycamores hosted seven of the 10 largest crowds in school history this past season, as the Terre Haute community watched the ISU women's basketball team garner its first-ever Missouri Valley Championship, while tying the school record with 22 wins. Fans also enjoyed watching the Sycamore's high power offense score 80.0 points per game, the highest such total of any Division I team in the country.

ISU's mark of 1,860 fans per game ranked them 63rd in the nation in 2002-03, marking the fourth-best total in the Missouri Valley Conference. Leading the way for the Valley was SMS who ranked 12th in the country with an average of 6,576 fans per game. Second in the Valley was Drake with their 3,228 fans per game, which ranked 34th-best in the NCAA this past season. The battle for third and fourth in the Valley was as close as the regular season standings were, as fellow co-champion Creighton averaged 1,861 fans per game to edge the Sycamores by one fan per contest.

In 2003-04, ISU will once again host a very attractive home schedule as they will host nine Missouri Valley home games and two exhibitions. In non-conference action, the Sycamores will host Wright State, Cincinnati and Miami (Ohio). Exact dates and times for all home games will be announced in mid-August when the Missouri Valley Conference publishes the 2003-04 conference schedule.