IOWA CITY, Iowa -- An NCAA attendance record for women's basketball was set Sunday with an extra-capacity crowd of 22,157 packing Carver-Hawkeye Arena for Ohio State's 56-47 victory over Iowa.
The record attendance shattered the mark of 10,622 for a single game when the Kentucky and Old Dominion women's teams played Feb. 5, 1983.
It also beat the NCAA women's attendance record of 12,336, set March 6, 1977 at a double-header in New York's Madison Square Garden.
Officials originally announced Sunday's crowd at 18,500, but following the game revised the number.
One sports official said the university may be in trouble with the State Fire Marshal because the arena has a listed capacity of 15,450. He said the initial attendance figure was deliberately understated to avoid problems while the game was being played.
Fans were lined up in the aisles and crowded around the doors ringing the arena during the game.
The attendance record is the culmination of a two-week promotional campaign to break the old mark. Hawkeye coach C. Vivian Stringer had been appearing on radio telling Iowans the state deserves the record because of its rich women's basketball tradition.
'I couldn't believe it,' Stringer said. 'There were just about tears in my eyes when I walked out onto the court. I told you before. If it could be done, it would be done at Iowa.'
Boosting the crowd was the matchup between the Hawkeyes and Ohio State for first place in the Big Ten. Ohio State rallied from a 10-point second half deficit to beat Iowa and take a two-game lead.
Ohio State is 17-2 overall and 9-0 in the Big Ten. Iowa dropped to 13-6 and 7-2.
Ohio State's Tracy Hall scored 13 points while Michelle and Robin Anderson had 10 each for Iowa.
'I felt like I was at a men's game,' Anderson said.
Iowa finished second in the nation in attendance last year with an average of slightly more than 3,000 a game.
