Caitlin Clark, Iowa set NCAA attendance record in exhibition at Kinnick Stadium

Caitlin Clark and the Iowa women’s basketball team made history Sunday afternoon.

Iowa hosted DePaul for an exhibition game and did so in front of 55,646 people at Kinnick Stadium. The Hawkeyes nearly filled the football stadium for the basketball game, and had the court positioned vertically in the north end zone, to set the attendance record for an NCAA women’s basketball game.

The “Crossover at Kinnick” made sure to participate in one of the best traditions in sports after the first quarter, too. Both teams and everyone else at the stadium stopped and waved up to the Children’s Hospital that overlooks the stadium, just like the football team does after the first quarter of games. Iowa’s athletic department also presented the hospital with a $250,000 donation.

While Sunday’s game set an NCAA record, it was well short of the women's sporting event mark the Nebraska volleyball team hit in late August. The Cornhuskers packed Memorial Stadium with 92,003 fans for a match against Omaha that set the attendance record at the Huskers’ football stadium and broke the world record for attendance at a women’s sporting event in general. FC Barcelona Femení had set the previous record last year.

Clark showed out in Sunday's exhibition. She finished with a triple-double with 34 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the 94-72 win over DePaul. She shot 13-of-26 from the field.

Anaya Peoples led the Blue Demons with 19 points and five rebounds. DePaul went 16-17 last season, and missed the NCAA tournament for the third time in the past four seasons.

Clark and the Hawkeyes made it to their first national title game last season, though they fell to Angel Reese and LSU in Dallas. Clark was named the John R. Wooden Award winner last season, which completed a clean sweep of the major National Player of the Year awards. She was the country’s second-leading scorer with 27.8 points per game and averaged a Division-I best 8.6 assists and 7.1 rebounds per game.

The Hawkeyes will open their season on Nov. 6 against Fairleigh Dickinson.