Peek Inside The Bulldog Program is a season-long blog that will give insight into the women's basketball program. Hope you enjoy this look.
Peek Inside The Bulldog Program: Blog 3 (Nov. 8, 2011)
I was walking through the loading dock, the gateway between the Martin Centre and the McCarthey Athletic Center this past Saturday when I struck up a conversation with a co-worker. After the cordial hellos, I asked how he was doing and he said "better now that I figured out the women's basketball game is at 6 p.m., not 5 p.m." I came to find out he had rushed to get to the MAC before doors opened for the Bulldogs game versus Corban University but got there at 4 p.m. - two hours before doors opened - and was a bit frantic when he didn't see any fans in the stands.
Fast forward three and a half hours when I got the call on my radio with the night's official attendance for the exhibition game - 3,433 if you didn't know - and I couldn't not chuckle thinking about that earlier conversation; heck we had just set a record for attendance at an exhibition game! (Breaking the previous year's record of 2,594).
Of course this had the wheels churning; wondering how our attendance compared to other schools attendance at exhibition games. So come Monday morning I perused many of the top programs websites scouring box scores for those pesky attendance numbers.
Here is a little of what I found: reigning national champions Texas A&M had 4,107 fans come and see it defeat Oklahoma City 84-63; runners-up University of Notre Dame pulled 7,735 fans at its 88-34 win over Windsor; Stanford University, which we play at in five days, had 3,072 fans at its 100-54 victory over Vanguard, and Connecticut drew 6,325 at its 89-30 win over Assumption.
Pretty comparable in the whole realm of things; if you look at size of arena - which I won't bore you with, day of the week the game was on, etc.
All-in-all, I think I can confidently say, after seeing these numbers, that what we have going on at this little Jesuit institution is right up there with those historic programs!
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Hope to see that number grow this Friday when the Bulldogs open the regular season hosting Hofstra University. Game is set to begin at 4 p.m.
Women's Basketball Tidbits
ESPN'S TOP 25: ESPN.com's panel of contributors - columnists Michelle Voepel, Graham Hays and Charlie Creme and editor Melanie Jackson - put together a preseason Top 25 in which the Gonzaga University women's basketball team checked in at No. 23. Hays notes "Courtney Vandersloot is gone, but the Bulldogs still have two legitimate stars in seniors Katelan Redmon and Kayla Standish, fresh off USA Basketball experiences, and the kind of depth in the paint that would serve them well in any conference." To see the full release click here.
GRAHAM HAYS ARTICLE ON GONZAGA TO COME OUT THURSDAY: Graham Hays, a columnist for ESPN.com, talked to a few members of the Gonzaga University women's basketball program recently and his article on GU, which looks to be titled 'Zags still atop WCC' will be out Thursday. You will be able to find the link to the story on Thursday here.
GRAVES' WEEKLY RADIO SHOW: Gonzaga University women's basketball head coach Kelly Graves has his own radio show in 2011-12. Graves' second show of the new season is set for Tuesday, Nov. 8 from 5:30-6 p.m. on 1510 KGA AM. Listen in to get all the inside scoop on every Gonzaga women's basketball!
FACEBOOK AND TWITTER: If you don't know, the Gonzaga University women's basketball program is on Facebook and Twitter! You can get an inside look into the Bulldogs program with 'Picture-A-Day' and videos, and always find out the up-to-date news. Become a fan of the Zags on Facebook by clicking here and follow the Zags on twitter at www.twitter.com/ZagWBB.
