OU Eighth Nationally in Attendance

NORMAN, Okla. -- The Oklahoma women's basketball program ranked eighth nationally in average attendance at 7,630 according to the official numbers released by the NCAA on Thursday. It marks the highest NCAA ranking in program history and the sixth consecutive season OU has ranked in the top 20.

Thanks to the Lloyd Noble Center faithful, OU was also ranked second in largest average increase from previous year. The Sooners averaged 5,695 during the 2004-05 season and increased that 1,935 per game. OU was just 69 short of first place Middle Tennessee, which increased its average by 2,004.

“It is a credit to our team's performance, not just the number of wins but the way they won,” said OU head coach Sherri Coale. “It is also a credit to our loyal fan base than has grown and loyally supported us the last 10 years.”

In terms of all games played, the Sooners played in front of 231,864 fans, which was the fifth largest total in the country and the best total in the Big 12.

In the Big 12 ranks, OU trailed No. 2 Texas Tech (11,935), No. 6 Baylor (100,316) and No. 7 Iowa State (122,679).

OU faced 11 teams ranked in the top 50 on their home courts and came out with a 9-3 record against those squads. That includes a pair of wins at the Pit, which is the home of New Mexico. The Lobos ranked fourth nationally.

OU set a number of attendance records in 2005-06, including three of the top four single game attendances in program history. Additionally, the per game average of 7,630 trumped the previous best by 6,606 set in 2001-02.

All 13 of OU's regular season home games were attended by 5,000 or more fans, which is a program first. OU also recorded two sellouts, giving the program three capacity crowds in its history.

For the Feb. 12 game against Baylor, OU set a state record for a women's basketball game with a turnout of 12,112. The home season finale crowd of 12,003 was the third best mark in history. Against Texas A&M on Feb. 18, the fourth largest crowd in OU history (11,689) was on hand to watch OU clinch the Big 12 Regular Season Championship despite snowfall and outdoor temperatures of below 20 degrees.

Season ticket sales were at an all-time high with 4,000-plus packages sold. In mid-October the fan support helped OU race past the previous record of 3,512 season tickets, which was set the season (2002-03) after OU reached its first Final Four. It took only a few weeks for the sales to surpass 4,000 and set a new standard for Sooner support.

NCAA Top-10 in Average Attendance

Team	Games	Total	Average
Tennessee	14	214,980	15,356

Texas Tech

167,081

11,935

Connecticut

253,465

11,521

New Mexico

186,376

10,354

Minnesota

116,601

8,329

Baylor

100,316

7,717

Iowa State

122,679

7,667

Oklahoma

99,188

7,630

Purdue

101,700

7,264

Michigan State

101,802

76,787

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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