An aggressive approach has led to the homecourt advantage in the current WNIT run by the Bowling Green
women’s basketball team.
The Falcons will be playing their fourth home game in the tournament Monday against Rutgers in the Stroh
Center. Tipoff is 7 p,m.
‘‘I like to make it aggressively realistic,’’ Chris Kingston, BG’s athletics director said on Saturday
about the bidding process for the WNIT.
‘‘You bid for every round, based on a guarantee of ticket sales,’’ Kingston added. ‘‘You want to win the
bid to have the homecourt advantage, but you also need to be fairly realistic (about attendance).
‘‘I could bid 4,400 or whatever it is, a sellout, but that’s not really what we’re going to have. Then I
am going to spend $30,000 above and beyond.’’
All seven of BG’s WNIT games over the past two seasons have been at home.
“I am realistically in favor of what we can do to get these games for these women and BG,’’ Kingston
said. ‘‘I’m just glad what we’re doing is working.
“This team deserves it and we should do everything we can to keep the games here.’’
BG senior Jill Stein appreciates being able to play at home.
‘‘It’s awesome. At this point traveling is not something that we really enjoy doing,’’ Stein said. ‘‘We
have a really good flow going here. And to know that we have that homecourt advantage is just
phenomenal.’’
The Falcons have drawn 5,028 fans for its first three games, the fourth-best total of the Elite Eight
teams.
Rutgers has drawn only 2,500 fans, including 1,143 for its quarterfinal game against in-state rival Seton
Hall.
Bowling Green’s best crowd was 2,403 fans for last Thursday’s win over Michigan.’
‘‘The good news when we had the Michigan game, the bid we made in ticket sales was aggressive, and we
exceeded that,’’ Kingston said. ‘‘We are already pacing ahead of what we had for Michigan, for the
Rutgers game.
“I’m very thankful for our fans. They showed up and the atmosphere was great,’’ he added about the
Michigan game.
Once a bid is made, there is not a lot of back and forth Kingston said, although WNIT administrators are
in contact with him when the Falcons are playing.
C, Vivian Stringer, Rutgers’ Hall of Fame women’s coach, was asked about playing Bowling Green in the
postgame press conference after the Seton Hall victory.
‘‘It would be interesting to find out why,’’ Stringer said about having to go on the road.
UTEP is the current attendance leader in the WNIT with 17,437 fans in three games, including 8,234 fans
for its win over Colorado on Friday.
UTEP hosts Washington tonight. Tickets for the game with Washington are $6 for general admission seating
and went on sale at the UTEP ticket center after the Colorado game, with the line spanning more than 100
yards.