Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
WVU’s Record-Breaking Crowd of 13,447 Against Baylor in Jeopardy This Weekend
March 16, 2026 01:09 PM | Women's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – You know something special is brewing this weekend when Oliver Luck, living in Colorado, sends me a text message from out of the blue about West Virginia University's 12th-ranked women's basketball team.
WVU's former director of athletics and current Board of Governors member is fired up about Mark Kellogg's Mountaineers and believes they can set the Hope Coliseum attendance record for this weekend's NCAA Tournament first- and second-round games.
The first contest on Saturday pits fifth-seeded Kentucky against 12th-seeded James Madison at 2:30 p.m., followed by fourth-seeded West Virginia's game against 13th-seeded Miami, Ohio, at 5 p.m.
Both matchups will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
The two winners will meet on Monday night for the right to advance to the Fort Worth Regional.
This weekend will be the first time the Coliseum is serving as the host venue for NCAA Tournament women's basketball action since 1992, when fourth-seeded West Virginia outlasted fifth-seeded Clemson 73-72 on Jodie Runner's last-second basket, which fittingly enough, was a runner!
A then-record crowd of 8,268 showed up on a Sunday night to witness history.
For those observing the game that evening, it was the first time they could ever recall people sitting in the upper ring of the arena for a women's college basketball game. Traffic was so overwhelming that a long line of cars stretched from the old Star City Bridge all the way out to Interstate 79.
It was longtime coach Kittie Blakemore's final game at the Coliseum, which made for a memorable curtain call for WVU's women's sports matriarch. It was Blakemore who got the women's sports program off the ground at West Virginia University following the signing of the Title IX Education Amendments Act on June 23, 1972.
In the 53 seasons of women's basketball, including some lean years after the 1992 season, that game is considered one of the high-water marks for the program.
Former coach Mike Carey reinvigorated West Virginia women's basketball in the early 2000s, and by 2013, during West Virginia's inaugural season in the Big 12 Conference, his teams had qualified for NCAA Tournament play six times in a span of eight years (in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012).
Carey's success, the national reputation of Baylor, its coach Kim Mulkey and star player Brittney Griner - not to mention a weekend date in early March - provided the perfect ingredients for the record-setting crowd of 13,447 that showed up that Saturday afternoon.
Former WVU marketing director Nathaniel Zinn recalled there being a steady buildup throughout the season leading into the game. He believes it was the first- and only-time graphics depicting an opposing player (Griner dunking the basketball) were ever used to promote a Mountaineer sporting contest.
"I remember meeting with some of the women's basketball staff, concessions workers, ticketing and parking crews beforehand telling them that we were expecting eight to 10,000 people for the game," Zinn said. "They just looked at me in stunned silence. Then everyone got to work on an operations plan."
To increase the likelihood of a capacity crowd, the local market was flooded with discounted tickets. All high schools within driving distance in West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Ohio were contacted and more than 50 showed up.
"I think we were selling $5 tickets to just about everyone," Luck, then West Virginia's AD, recalled.
"There were people that came in from all over the region to see the game," Zinn added. "There were buses with high school teams still driving around the lot looking for a place to park at halftime."
Unfortunately, by that time, Baylor had already had things well in hand.
The Bears scored the first 14 points of the game and led 22-3 at the 12-minute mark of the first half. West Virginia's lone basket was a Taylor Palmer 3-point jumper.
"I thought we played scared in the beginning," Carey said afterward.
The top-ranked Lady Bears led 38-22 at intermission and eventually won the game 80-49.
Griner was as good as advertised, finishing with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocked shots. It was her first triple-double in three years. She just missed another one earlier that season against West Virginia when she had nine blocks in Waco.
The only thing unsettling for Mulkey and her Baylor players was the Mountaineer mascot, who fired his musket right near their bench before tipoff.
Today, 13 years later, Luck believes West Virginia can set the attendance record this weekend - and can do so without giving out a bunch of freebies either.
Of course, they can't do that for these games anyway because it's an NCAA event.
By the way, Zinn said West Virginia recovered some of the forfeited ticket revenue in Dippin' Dots sales. He doesn't recall the total amount sold, but he remembers West Virginia's business manager at the time telling him that it was an "insane amount."
Tickets for this weekend's NCAA games went on sale this morning and by noon they were already halted for Saturday's session. What remain are for Monday night's game and any returns this week.
Kellogg's message to Mountaineer Nation is simple:
"We would love to pack this place," he said. "If we can get 14,000 people in here, that would be a huge reward, and we will feed off it. We feed off the energy of our passionate fan base. We play that way. I think it's great for women's college basketball for this area, for our state, and for all of the little kids who have grown up kind of admiring this.
"It's been 30-whatever years since we've had (an NCAA Tournament) game in here, so it doesn't happen very often. We might as well make it the best we can."
The three other schools here this weekend are from states attached to West Virginia, which should keep the ticket office pretty busy this week.
"There is name recognition for our fans, which should help," Kellogg mentioned. "They know Miami, Ohio; they know Kentucky and they know James Madison, so I think it's a little bit more of a draw. I think it matters who comes here."
Sounds like it might be a good idea to make an extra-large purchase of Dippin' Dots for this weekend's games.
Tickets for Monday night's game remain for sale online at WVUGAME.com.
WVU's former director of athletics and current Board of Governors member is fired up about Mark Kellogg's Mountaineers and believes they can set the Hope Coliseum attendance record for this weekend's NCAA Tournament first- and second-round games.
The first contest on Saturday pits fifth-seeded Kentucky against 12th-seeded James Madison at 2:30 p.m., followed by fourth-seeded West Virginia's game against 13th-seeded Miami, Ohio, at 5 p.m.
Both matchups will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
The two winners will meet on Monday night for the right to advance to the Fort Worth Regional.
This weekend will be the first time the Coliseum is serving as the host venue for NCAA Tournament women's basketball action since 1992, when fourth-seeded West Virginia outlasted fifth-seeded Clemson 73-72 on Jodie Runner's last-second basket, which fittingly enough, was a runner!
A then-record crowd of 8,268 showed up on a Sunday night to witness history.
For those observing the game that evening, it was the first time they could ever recall people sitting in the upper ring of the arena for a women's college basketball game. Traffic was so overwhelming that a long line of cars stretched from the old Star City Bridge all the way out to Interstate 79.
It was longtime coach Kittie Blakemore's final game at the Coliseum, which made for a memorable curtain call for WVU's women's sports matriarch. It was Blakemore who got the women's sports program off the ground at West Virginia University following the signing of the Title IX Education Amendments Act on June 23, 1972.
In the 53 seasons of women's basketball, including some lean years after the 1992 season, that game is considered one of the high-water marks for the program.
Former coach Mike Carey reinvigorated West Virginia women's basketball in the early 2000s, and by 2013, during West Virginia's inaugural season in the Big 12 Conference, his teams had qualified for NCAA Tournament play six times in a span of eight years (in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012).
Carey's success, the national reputation of Baylor, its coach Kim Mulkey and star player Brittney Griner - not to mention a weekend date in early March - provided the perfect ingredients for the record-setting crowd of 13,447 that showed up that Saturday afternoon.
Former WVU marketing director Nathaniel Zinn recalled there being a steady buildup throughout the season leading into the game. He believes it was the first- and only-time graphics depicting an opposing player (Griner dunking the basketball) were ever used to promote a Mountaineer sporting contest.
"I remember meeting with some of the women's basketball staff, concessions workers, ticketing and parking crews beforehand telling them that we were expecting eight to 10,000 people for the game," Zinn said. "They just looked at me in stunned silence. Then everyone got to work on an operations plan."
To increase the likelihood of a capacity crowd, the local market was flooded with discounted tickets. All high schools within driving distance in West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Ohio were contacted and more than 50 showed up.
"I think we were selling $5 tickets to just about everyone," Luck, then West Virginia's AD, recalled.
"There were people that came in from all over the region to see the game," Zinn added. "There were buses with high school teams still driving around the lot looking for a place to park at halftime."
Unfortunately, by that time, Baylor had already had things well in hand.
The Bears scored the first 14 points of the game and led 22-3 at the 12-minute mark of the first half. West Virginia's lone basket was a Taylor Palmer 3-point jumper.
"I thought we played scared in the beginning," Carey said afterward.
The top-ranked Lady Bears led 38-22 at intermission and eventually won the game 80-49.
Griner was as good as advertised, finishing with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocked shots. It was her first triple-double in three years. She just missed another one earlier that season against West Virginia when she had nine blocks in Waco.
The only thing unsettling for Mulkey and her Baylor players was the Mountaineer mascot, who fired his musket right near their bench before tipoff.
Today, 13 years later, Luck believes West Virginia can set the attendance record this weekend - and can do so without giving out a bunch of freebies either.
Of course, they can't do that for these games anyway because it's an NCAA event.
By the way, Zinn said West Virginia recovered some of the forfeited ticket revenue in Dippin' Dots sales. He doesn't recall the total amount sold, but he remembers West Virginia's business manager at the time telling him that it was an "insane amount."
Tickets for this weekend's NCAA games went on sale this morning and by noon they were already halted for Saturday's session. What remain are for Monday night's game and any returns this week.
Kellogg's message to Mountaineer Nation is simple:
"We would love to pack this place," he said. "If we can get 14,000 people in here, that would be a huge reward, and we will feed off it. We feed off the energy of our passionate fan base. We play that way. I think it's great for women's college basketball for this area, for our state, and for all of the little kids who have grown up kind of admiring this.
"It's been 30-whatever years since we've had (an NCAA Tournament) game in here, so it doesn't happen very often. We might as well make it the best we can."
The three other schools here this weekend are from states attached to West Virginia, which should keep the ticket office pretty busy this week.
"There is name recognition for our fans, which should help," Kellogg mentioned. "They know Miami, Ohio; they know Kentucky and they know James Madison, so I think it's a little bit more of a draw. I think it matters who comes here."
Sounds like it might be a good idea to make an extra-large purchase of Dippin' Dots for this weekend's games.
Tickets for Monday night's game remain for sale online at WVUGAME.com.
2026 Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament Champions Recap
Wednesday, March 11
Big 12 WBB Tournament Champions | Mark Kellogg, Jordan Harrison and Sydney Shaw
Tuesday, March 10
Mark Kellogg, Sydney Shaw & Jordan Harrison | Big 12 Tournament vs. TCU
Sunday, March 08
Mark Kellogg, Meme Wheeler & Jordan Harrison | Big 12 Tournament vs Colorado
Saturday, March 07
