“We are about to see an explosion,” Women’s Basketball Hall-of-Famer Nora Lynn Finch discusses current state of the college game
With the Women's NCAA Tournament reaching new levels of popularity, one of its pioneers reflects on why that is.
LELAND, N.C. (WWAY) – In 2024, two monumental NCAA basketball records that stood for a combined 56 years fell. The first, LSU’s Pete Maravich’s 2,667 points was topped by the lethal long range of Iowa’s Caitlyn Clark. The second, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski’s 1,202 wins got surpassed by the longevity of Stanford’s Tara Vanderveer. The previous holders are of incredible caliber and are revered in men’s college basketball folklore. The new names are still cementing their impact on the women’s game.
In 2024, the women’s game keeps catching up to the men’s.
Move over, Pistol Pete!!
CAITLIN CLARK IS THE ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER IN NCAA DIVISION I HISTORY pic.twitter.com/6dvw5feH3a
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 3, 2024
“I’m truly excited we had this burst out time while I was still young enough to enjoy it.” said the Hall of Famer Nora Lynn Finch of the explosion of the women’s college game in 2024. “It’s 42 years since our first NCAA Tournament. Now we’re beating the guys.”
The first two rounds broke the attendance records from last year, exceeding 292,000 people at the 16 sites hosting the games. People watched from home too. #1 Iowa and #16 Holy Cross had over three million viewers on ABC. That’s the most-watched tournament game ever before the Final Four. Overall, this year’s regional semifinals and finals delivered four of the seven largest women’s tournament audiences outside of the Final Four.
More of the conversation with Nora Lynn, including a Q&A about topics ranging from NIL, transfer rules, betting on college athletes, conference expansion, how the women’s game came to be, her history with basketball, her history as an administrator, how she helped create rules to increase the pace of play, the finances of the college women’s game relative to all sports, the importance of television contracts, the record-breaking performances of 2024, and of course, why she thinks the NC State women’s basketball team is seeing so much success will be posted here Tuesday.
