Indiana women’s basketball’s regular season is over, but the Hoosiers are hoping their home slate isn’t.
IU is seeking a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament, which would bring the first two rounds to Bloomington for the third straight year. The Hoosiers’ loss to Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals left those hopes uncertain, but they’re still alive.
During a media availability on Zoom ahead of the Big Ten Tournament, IU head coach Teri Moren expressed gratitude for the love the team’s felt from its fans this season, and is hoping her program will be able to reciprocate it.
“We want to be able to host for our fans,” Moren said. “It’s important — they are important to us. We want to give them the opportunity to continue to support our program. They’ve done that, and we are really grateful.”
Since Moren arrived in Bloomington, IU women’s basketball has seen significant attendance growth.
The program has increased its average attendance from the previous year six times under Moren out of her 10 seasons — the only exceptions were the COVID-impacted season, and the season after the WNIT championship run. This season, Indiana averaged 10,038 fans per game — it’s only the fifth time in Big Ten women’s basketball history a team has topped 10,000 fans on average.
Part of that success is because of the rise of the entire sport, as women’s college basketball continues to grow in popularity. But it’s also because the Hoosiers have become so consistently good.
Moren credited her players and staff members through the years that helped build the program into what it’s become.
“When you take over a place like Indiana, you envision what you want it to look like and what it can be, what it can look like, because you know you’re in such a rich state that loves basketball, tradition, all of it, and you know that if you work hard enough and you can put a product on the floor that people enjoy watching, they’ll come and they’ll support you,” Moren said “I’m just a part of it. These fans come out to watch these players. And so my charge is to continue to help put a product on the floor, but also continue to recruit high-level players, that our fans want to continue to come out and support.”
Indiana women’s basketball average attendance by season under Teri Moren
2023-24: 10,038
2022-23: 8,104
2021-22: 4,726
2020-21: n/a
2019-20: 4,025
2018-19: 3,920
2017-18: 4,102
2016-17: 2,955
2015-16: 2,894
2014-15: 2,609
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