Lady Bucks win, will play sunday for championship

[OSUMBuckeye]

The Ladies beat Purdue tonight to improve their big ten record to 13-2, they will play Penn St. at home sunday for a piece of the Big Ten Championship. MSU has already earned a piece of the championship and this game will decide who their co-champ will be.

There is an article on the official site saying that they have already sold over 17,000 tickets and it may become the first sellout for women's basketball in the Schott. If this is true, then we are probably looking at not only a school record, but also a Big Ten record for attendance at a women's basketball as the current big ten record is 17,142. The Capacity at the Schott is 19,200 so we should easily eclipse that mark and hopefully a selllout will put us a couple thousand ahead.

This should be a really great game, and I am looking forward to it as I have actually never been to a packed game. I think everyone should get some tickets and come to the game to help ensure that we can get a sellout.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

i believe it is 19,500 capacity

http://www.worldstadiums.com/north_america/countries/united_states/ohio.shtml

 

[OSUMBuckeye]

I got that figure off of the story on the athletics website, though I just looked and the Schott's web site has 19,500 as the capacity. It really doesn't matter though. Either way it could smash the old record and draw a very large crowd.

 

[OSUMBuckeye]

From the Dispatch:

OSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Foster’s dream will be realized Sunday with sellout crowd
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


Jim Foster brought a big dream three years ago along with the list of things he meant to accomplish as the coach of the Ohio State women’s basketball team.
Foster imagined his team someday playing in Value City Arena with all of the 19,200 seats filled. The dream comes true Sunday when No. 4 Ohio State plays host to No. 22 Penn State at 6 p.m. with the winner tying Michigan State for the Big Ten championship.
"You come into a place and you want things to happen," Foster said. "You want to win games. You want to graduate players. You just want a culture that is conducive to successful play and great opportunities for kids.
"One of the byproducts is you’ve got a pretty big building and you want to develop a fan base. In the far reaches of your mind, there’s a goal to walk out there one day with every seat full."
The Buckeyes (26-3, 13-2) have come a long way since Foster left Vanderbilt to join them in April 2002. They have risen from the middle of the conference standings to become a solid contender for the championship.
Fans took a while to notice. A crowd of 10,434, the largest of the season, watched Ohio State defeat Indiana on Feb. 6. Because Foster doesn’t count seat licenses and those phantom fans who were counted in the attendance during previous years, the Indiana crowd probably was the largest to see a women’s game in Value City Arena. The gathering Sunday will nearly double that.
The game also will mark the home finale for senior guards Caity Matter and Beth Howe. (Ashley Allen is applying to the NCAA for a medical redshirt at the end of the season and is expected to be granted a fifth year.) Playing in front of a packed house at home seemed unimaginable to them, even at the start of this season.
"It was always a dream, but I don’t think that I ever thought it would become a reality," Matter said. "We’ve had some great crowds. The people that come and fill the stands are always great. But to sell out the Schott is a great way to go out for the seniors."
Although Matter has been a standout and a starter the last three seasons, Howe has played a backup role since arriving from Jackson High School for the 2001-02 season. She is happy to be part of a team that will be playing for a championship before a sellout crowd.
"That’s why you play college basketball," Howe said. "That’s why I chose to come to a place like Ohio State — to be part of something so special and something bigger than yourself. Everyone wants to be a champion.
"We have the opportunity of a lifetime on Sunday to play at home in front of a sellout crowd against Penn State for a Big Ten championship. We’ve worked so hard all year to be champions. That’s what we’re going to do Sunday."
Matter, a fifth-year senior, will leave as the program’s top three-point shooter.
"In some ways, it feels like I’ve been here forever," she said. "Other ways, it feels like I just got here. It’s a good mix of things. I know I’m just ready to play on Sunday."
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