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I think overall that the
level of play
is so much better
the fan support has increased tremendously and we are fortunate
we lead the nation in attendance
pretty much
the last several years and
I I think
that when we started to to attract
%uh a lot of
crowds
and and certainly
the quality of play
being better than it's ever been
and more competitive
then people want to watch it
and it's it's a neat things for me it's it's been
it's been very gratifying but also very touching
to just see how
many people are embracing the women's game
and how many games are televised
and people are really
taking an interest unlike
what we've seen in the past
television ratings for the women's game are increasing substantially every year last year for example
the ratings were forty percent higher on ESPN than they were in two thousand seven
to what do you attribute the increased interest
television exposure has helped increase
the interest because people now can turn on the TV and
see a women's game in
where in the past that
that wasn't there
but %uh I think %uh I think that the television exposure
as well as
the quality of play now and the competitiveness of teams
it's not like
if someone is
like well they're going to win the national championship right you take a stanford a
Tennessee or Connecticut or Oklahoma
Louisville there's just so many great teams now and I think that that has brought
more interest when you have parity
then you have more people watching
and and invested
what is the primary fan base for a women's college game
well for us
fifteen thousand plus
you know we've had we've had sellouts here and we have twenty two thousand both male and
female students oh I think it's like when we have %uh
our student section there it's
it's a lot of guys but a lot of women and their passionate
it's a great atmosphere it really is and it's been real neat
I know that my husband and the Dean of our law school who is also male both prefer watching
women play over the men is this an anomaly or are both men and women starting to prefer the women's
version
if so why do you think that is you know that's interesting
I have a lot of men
that will say I
don't watch the men's game I watch the women's game
and it's it's really neat and of course
if you're big basketball fans you watch both
but %uh I think
there there are a lot of men that enjoy the women's game
%uh why I don't know if it's
maybe
things develop a little bit slower because the guys are just up and down a lot
but
there are a lot of guys that I know that say
I'm getting season tickets we'll be there I love the women's game and a lot of them
have daughters too
I think that matters
what do you see is the biggest difference between the men's game and the women's
again I think it's it's it's how
it's how the game is played and I think our game is played
below the rim
and their game is
played above the rim
we've had players that could play above the rim
but I I think then you get to see
the the game develop whether it whether it's offensively or defensively I think that
I think that our fans
can really see if we come down the floor
you know they can see that inside outside action
you know they can just see the game as a whole
what's the biggest strength of the women's game is it passing defense set plays
well I think
I think it depends on on
the talent that you have
and then
the type of
coaching
that you have
%uh and and a lot of teams will use a lot of different styles of play
some teams like to press and run
some teams like half court
and and so
that's the fun part of it
and coaching is to try to figure out
what you want to do with your own team
and then how you're going to defend
and play against your opponent
so there's a lot of strategic thinking going on there as to
what is the best plan
we watch lots of tape
I mean video is key
so in watching tape
we understand
their tendencies
as well as our own tendencies 0:04:49.690,0:04:53.530 maybe they're running something that we've never seen before so then
we implement that in practice to get ready to defend it in a game
a lot of lot of strategic
planning going on
but I would assume that happens in the men's game to right oh yes
but they're a little more up and down
slam dunks
you and I are trying to reach the net