Fans should attend games
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students should attend women’s basketball games.
Looking around Mackey Arena during a game, there
are families and alumni but not many students.
The Boilers, ranked No. 4 in the preseason poll,
open the season at 5 p.m. Saturday against Eastern Michigan in the first
round of the preseason WNIT.
It is important to have a lot of fans at Mackey
Arena on Saturday. The attendance figures from the first two rounds
of the tournament determine whether Purdue will host the third and fourth
rounds, should the Boilers make it that far.
Average home attendance has increased from 503
fans per game during the 1987-88 season to a high of 9,681 fans per
game in the 1998-99 season. Last season the home attendance figures
dipped slightly to 9,428 fans per game.
In two exhibition games this season, though, attendance
figures have been much lower. Against Tapiolan Honka, the Boilers had
3,730 fans and they had 3,858 fans on Sunday against the Mexican national
team.
The preseason WNIT will be the last chance for
fans to watch the Boilers in Mackey Arena for more than a month.
After the preseason WNIT, they travel to Cancun,
Mex., for the Torneo Cancun de Baquetbol Nov. 25-26. On Dec.1, they
travel to Kentucky. On Dec. 3, they visit Boston College for a game
in the Fleet Center. Before finals week, they face in-state rivals Valparaiso
on Dec. 6 and No. 6 Notre Dame on Dec. 9.
On Dec. 16, the women’s and men’s teams
play a doubleheader, the Boilermaker Blockbuster, in Indianapolis. The
women play No. 7 Louisiana State while the men play Valparaiso.
After the preseason WNIT, the next time fans can
catch the Boilers is Dec. 19, when they host No. 11 Stanford. In the
last meeting between the Cardinal and the Boilers, Nov. 22, 1998, the
Cardinal pulled out the 73-72 victory. It was the lone loss for the
Boilers during their 34-1 national championship season.
Basically, the women’s basketball team needs
the support of the student body. Students who bought a Gold Card or
a Platinum Card have vouchers for tickets to women’s games included.
The tipoff time for the Eastern Michigan game was
even moved from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. so that fans can watch the football
team’s 1 p.m. matchup with Michigan State, which is being televised
nationally by ABC. The ticket stub for the preseason WNIT game will
get fans into Saturday’s 7 p.m. volleyball match against Minnesota
for free.
So watch the football game on television. Then
go out to Mackey Arena and watch the women’s basketball game. Then
head to the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility and watch the volleyball
team. Cheer on Purdue sports.
Anne McLaren is a senior in the Schools of Engineering.
She can be e-mailed at sports@purdueexponent.org.
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