This year, the USD women’s basketball team opened its season in the Sioux Falls Arena against the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. The game was an opportunity for the Sioux Falls Coyote fans to come out in full force instead of having to make a 50-minute trek to Vermillion.
The USD administration expected a good crowd for the game, considering it would be in the backyard for the Sioux Falls fans and the fact that Wisconsin-Green Bay has made 11 straight NCAA tournament appearances, but the crowd turnout was a bit of a shock.
The attendance was listed at a decent 1,907 people, but that number only reflects tickets sold, as there looked like there was maybe 1,000 people.
This is clearly disappointing considering Sioux Falls is a city of more than 120,000, so there has to be more than 1,000 Coyote fans in the city, as USD is less than an hour away.
I think the blame for the low turnout is clearly placed on the fans in Sioux Falls. Ever since USD moved Division I, fans have been asking for more D-I games and many of them have stated they are from Sioux Falls and that they would be more attracted to make the drive to Vermillion for those games.
Having the game in Sioux Falls gave those fans whatthey have asked for. It was against a major D-I team, and they didn’t show up.
I applaud the Sioux Falls fans who did show up and thank them for their support, but the rest of them need to stop complaining because they didn’t care enough to show up for a Sunday afternoon game in the Arena.
On the other hand, the most impressive part of the crowd were the Coyote supporters who are regularly seen at the games in Vermillion. You could see the front row was full of familiar faces and you could hear the familiar voices.
This was also clearly evident when USD women played an exhibition game against Winona State University in Yankton at Laddie E. Cimpl Arena.
The recorded attendance was 1,020 and most of the Arena was full of Coyote fans and Yankton hosted the USD women well.
In fact, the game was so successful, the Coyotes could and should make the game a yearly event.
One of the reasons the game was played in Yankton was because of senior Kara Iverson, who is a Yankton native, but sophomore Amber Hegge is from Crofton, Neb., which isn’t too far down the road as well.
I think after the first two outings for the Coyotes, the USD administration learned a lot. The main thing being the crowd in Sioux Falls was so disappointing that they may have just lost any chance of USD playing another game there for some time to come.
The second thing is that USD can always rely on the Coyote faithful in the Vermillion and Yankton area to show its support, even on the road.
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