FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
INDIANAPOLIS – Fort Hays State Women’s Basketball ranked second nationally in attendance for the second straight year in 2015-16 as the NCAA official basketball attendance numbers were released on Tuesday. FHSU averaged 2,293 fans per game and saw an impressive total of 34,395 total fans attend home contests in 2015-16. The Tigers ranked among the top five nationally for the fourth consecutive year and among the top 10 for the seventh consecutive year.
Fort Hays State’s average was nearly identical in back-to-back years. The Tigers averaged 2,293 fans per game in 2015-16 and averaged 2,289 the previous season, ranking second nationally both years. FHSU ranked third in 2013-14 and fourth in 2012-13. The rise on the attendance chart goes hand-in-hand with the program’s success on the court, reaching the No. 2 national ranking as a team in 2014-15 and finishing at 30-4 overall with an appearance in the NCAA Tournament Central Regional final. The Tigers reached the WBCA No. 1 national ranking for the first time in program history in 2015-16 and reached the NCAA Tournament once again with a final overall record of 25-6. Fort Hays State has now put together five consecutive 20-win seasons, with the last two producing the top two win totals in program history at the NCAA Division II level.
The state of Kansas had three of its four schools in the MIAA rank in the top 10 nationally for attendance. After FHSU at No. 2, Emporia State ranked third at 2,028 per game. Washburn was fifth at 1,649 per game. Two of the top programs nationally, Fort Hays State and Emporia State occupied the No. 1 national ranking until early January. Emporia State started the year as the nation’s No. 1 ranked team and held that position until early December when No. 5 ranked FHSU knocked off ESU in Hays. That win leapt the Tigers into the WBCA’s No. 1 national ranking for the first time in program history and they held the top ranking from December 8 to January 5.
The only school to draw more at home on average in 2015-16 was Northern State (S.D.) of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference at 2,880 per game.
With four teams in the top 10, the MIAA led the nation in attendance once again as a conference, averaging 1,117 fans per game. It was the only conference to average 1,000 or more fans per game. The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, also in the Central Region, was second at 860 fans per game.