March 17, 2009

Center Valley, Pa.--Army was one of 32 winners in the NCAA Division I "Pack the House" Challenge, a national effort in which conferences and institutions compete to build attendance for women's basketball across the country.

NCAA Division I women's basketball marketing staffs selected a home game and designated that date as a "Pack the House" game with the goal of setting an attendance record. One winner from each of the 31 conferences and one from a group of independent institutions were named. Selections were based on marketing plan creativity and attendance criteria. The NCAA will award prizes and donate $500 to the nonprofit organization of each winning institution's choice.

Almost two-thirds of the Division I membership (184 institutions) participated in the effort that attracted more than 559,000 fans nationwide. Army packed Christl Arena with 2,862 fans - the largest home crowd in two years - for the 51st meeting between the Black Knights and service-academy rival Navy on Jan. 24. Events at Auburn, Bradley, Central Michigan, Gonzaga, Marist, Memphis, Niagara, Notre Dame and Providence College produced sell-out crowds, while sixty-three other programs surpassed their single-game attendance highs from last year.

"We believe this initiative has served as a catalyst to increase attendance, create excitement and enhance exposure for our women's basketball programs," said NCAA Vice President of Division I Women's Basketball Sue Donohoe. "Institution personnel committed a great deal of time, effort and resources to this program and the results were extremely positive. This program provides great `best practices' and examples of success for institutions that are seeking to `grow' women's basketball and these success stories will continue to strengthen efforts in the future."

Army's marketing staff, under the watch of Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing, Multimedia and Broadcasting Rich DeMarco, was responsible for the execution of Army's "Pack The House" event. The group included Director of Marketing Elle Nichols, Director of Gameday Operations Jeff Helion and Marketing Assistant Scott Robson.

2008-09 NCAA "Pack the House" Challenge Winners

CONFERENCE WINNERS

America East - Hartford

Atlantic Coast - Georgia Tech

Atlantic Sun - East Tennessee State

Atlantic 10 - Fordham

Big East - Notre Dame

Big Sky - Montana State

Big South - UNC Asheville

Big Ten - Illinois

Big 12 - Missouri

Big West - Long Beach State

Colonial - VCU

Conference USA - Marshall

Horizon - Valparaiso

Independents - Cal State Bakersfield

Ivy - Columbia

Metro Atlantic - Niagara

Mid-America - Central Michigan

Mid-Eastern - North Carolina A&T

Missouri Valley - Bradley

Mountain West - TCU

Northeast - Mount St. Mary's

Ohio Valley - Tennessee-Martin

Pacific-10 - California

Patriot - Army

Southeastern - Auburn

Southern - Chattanooga

Southland - Sam Houston State

SWAC - Jackson State

Summit - Indiana/Purdue-Indianapolis

Sun Belt - Arkansas-Little Rock

West Coast - Gonzaga

WAC - Louisiana Tech

OVERALL WINNER

Auburn University