WVU Breaks Attendance Record, Mark Kellogg Challenges Fans to 'Run It Back'

Mountaineer Nation showed out on Saturday evening, supporting the West Virginia women's basketball team in their first round matchup of the NCAA Tournament, showing up in waves.

There were 13,504 fans in attendance, which broke the record for the largest crowd to take in a women's basketball game at Hope Coliseum, surpassing the 13,447 mark that was set in 2013 when they hosted Brittney Griner and the Baylor Bears.

Unlike that matchup with Baylor, Mountaineer fans made the trip back to their cars with smiles on their faces as WVU dominated Miami (Ohio), 82-54.

The crowd was extremely loud and into it well before the opening tip, with long lines forming hours before the game began.

“What a great environment. We felt that was coming. It was electric," WVU head coach Mark Kellogg said in his postgame press conference. "It was everything I think that you would want. I told them the other day to walk out there the first time, look up there, enjoy it, see it, you’ve earned the right to play in front of a crowd like that. Then don’t look up there anymore and just kind of focus on the task at hand. Very appreciative of everybody coming. Let’s run it back on Monday. I guess that will be the challenge now — see if we can maybe do that again because that was special for all of us.”

The players were also super appreciative of the turnout and took a moment to soak it all in when they first came out on the floor.

“I definitely think we feed off the crowd’s energy," WVU guard Jordan Harrison said. "I know the first time walking out there in warmups to hear them cheer for us, it was kind of crazy. I looked back at (Sydney) Shaw like, ‘Can you believe this?’ It was great. I appreciate everyone for coming out. As a player, it’s so exciting playing in front of that many fans.”

WVU forward Meme Wheeler was in awe as well.

“When I came out, I was like… I was kind of struck. I’m like, we got people up in the 200 sections. I just looked all the way up, and then I looked at Cece Riviere like you ready to do it? And she was like, yeah! It brought excitement to us just to see everybody come and support us. The fans showed love, it was amazing.”

West Virginia will take on Kentucky on Monday at 5 p.m. ET for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen. It will be another huge crowd and perhaps another record-breaking one.