The NCAA recently released its final home attendance figures for the 2019-20 season, and the Toledo women’s basketball team finished No. 26 in the country, averaging 3,844 fans per contest.
The Rockets also led the Mid-American Conference in attendance for an unprecedented 30th-consecutive season.
Toledo led the Mid-American Conference in attendance for an unprecedented 30th consecutive season in 2019-20, averaging 3,844 fans per game. Toledo drew at least 4,000 fans to five contests during the year, including a season-best 5,051 against Western Michigan Feb. 22.
The Rockets have ranked in the top 30 nationally in home attendance in eight of the last nine years under Head Coach Tricia Cullop. The Midnight Blue and Gold also finished No. 28 (3,748) in 2011-12, No. 25 (4,012) in 2012-13, No. 24 (3,932) in 2013-14, No. 28 (3,636) in 2014-15, No. 24 (4,050) in 2015-16, No. 27 (3,744) in 2016-17, No. 31 (3,420) in 2017-18, and No. 30 (3,728) in 2018-19.
From UT Sports Information
Thank you Detroit. Very consistent numbers despite very good or average teams. That means fans just plain like the experience and want to support the program. I’m not sure the numbers could ever exceed 4500 even with an AMAZING team. UT women’s basketball is a gem. It must be protected. Just like the men’s program.
Go Rockets!
Makes you wonder why we are not able to transition that into better recruiting and results. Attendance to games should be a big draw for women's basketball recruiting. Or have we recruited well but not converted the talent to more championships. That, and the NIT championship seems to have been a somewhat lost opportunity to become the "UConn of the MAC".
I looked it up and Ehlen went 140 - 44 (76.1%) in his first 6 seasons, getting early success following Fennelly (who went 166-53 over 7 seasons 75.8%) - and that was after following Mix and Selgo who went a combined 39-69 (36.1%) over the prior 4 years.
Ehlen then dropped to 63-84 (42.9%) over his final 5 seasons.
Cullop went 18-13 after taking over for Ehlen, then went 107-31 (77.5%) in the next 4 seasons including the NIT championship in 2011 when the team was 29-8. They also went 29-4 in 2013.
Since then Cullop has been a pedestrian 129-96 (57.3%) in the past 7 years - with a very good season in 2017 (25-9 with a MAC championship) and a decent season in 2019 at 21-12. Excluding those 2 years, the team has gone 83-75 (52.5%) over 5 of the last 7 seasons. Only 2020 was a losing year at 14-17. Otherwise the records have been consistently mediocre. Not as big a drop-off as Ehlen, but not exactly capitalizing on the attendance records and the success from her early years.
What happened?
I agree, Moto, it is really a mystery. Cullop presumably did not become a worse coach or a worse recruiter. Some of it may be luck with landing or not landing a top recruit. Naama did not come to UT through the normal recruiting route, but Cullop deserves credit there for having an open mind where some other coaches did not.
Another possible explanation is that the MAC has gotten significantly better on the women's side in the last five years. Maybe Toledo is as good as ever, but other teams have caught up or passed us by. The fan support puts pressure on Cullop and her staff to field competitive teams. We have a right to be disappointed with the results over the past seven years.
(06-02-2020 09:44 AM)Dwight Wrote: [ -> ]I agree, Moto, it is really a mystery. Cullop presumably did not become a worse coach or a worse recruiter. Some of it may be luck with landing or not landing a top recruit. Naama did not come to UT through the normal recruiting route, but Cullop deserves credit there for having an open mind where some other coaches did not.
Another possible explanation is that the MAC has gotten significantly better on the women's side in the last five years. Maybe Toledo is as good as ever, but other teams have caught up or passed us by. The fan support puts pressure on Cullop and her staff to field competitive teams. We have a right to be disappointed with the results over the past seven years.
This accounts for a lot. BG completely dropped off the map and Toledo suffered as schools put more emphasis on the womens’ program. Still, we should be an NCAA team every five years at least and win 20+ 4 out of 5 and almost never lose at Savage.
I think recruiting has been a big problem. Adding Mark Stephens as an assistant has really helped our recruiting recently. It remains to be seen whether this coaching staff can develop players consistently.
(06-02-2020 12:07 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote: [ -> ]I think recruiting has been a big problem. Adding Mark Stephens as an assistant has really helped our recruiting recently. It remains to be seen whether this coaching staff can develop players consistently.
You may be right, Detroit, but I think it is too early to say whether or not Stephens has helped. After the players have accomplished something, then I will agree with you. Lockett definitely looked good for a freshman, and Wiard showed promise.
(06-02-2020 01:57 PM)Dwight Wrote: [ -> ] (06-02-2020 12:07 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote: [ -> ]I think recruiting has been a big problem. Adding Mark Stephens as an assistant has really helped our recruiting recently. It remains to be seen whether this coaching staff can develop players consistently.
You may be right, Detroit, but I think it is too early to say whether or not Stephens has helped. After the players have accomplished something, then I will agree with you. Lockett definitely looked good for a freshman, and Wiard showed promise.
Not many teams have a guard who can consistently hit the half-court plus jumper like Wiard. Could be a valuable weapon.