May 27, 2010 8:54:20 AM

NCAA women's basketball attendance for the 2009-10 season surpassed 11 million for the third straight year and was the second-highest total in history.

Attendance for all three NCAA divisions was 11,134,738, just short of the record 11,160,293 set in 2008-09.

Division I attendance in 2009-10 was also the second-highest all-time at 8,051,808. The Division I record was set in 2007-08 at 8,090,084. Division II totaled 1,777,843 fans, while Division III had 1,161,216.

A record 332 Division I teams averaged 1,637 fans in 4,918 games or sessions this season. That's down a little more than 27 fans per game from 2008-09.

For the seventh straight year, Tennessee led the nation in home attendance at 12,896 fans per game. Connecticut was second at 10,182. One of those two schools has led the nation every year since 1995. They were the only two schools to top 200,000 total fans (Tennessee at 219,233 and Connecticut at 203,648). Tennessee has led the nation in attendance for 13 of the last 14 seasons.

For all-game attendance – including home, road and neutral-site games – national-champion Connecticut was tops as 357,627 fans watched the Huskies over 39 games. Tennessee was the only other team to draw more than 300,000, while four teams (Baylor, Oklahoma, Iowa State and Notre Dame) topped the 200,000 mark.

The Big 12 Conference set an all-time record with 1,091,289 fans, breaking its own record of 1,073,069 set the previous season. The Big 12 led the nation for the 11th consecutive year in conference attendance. The league's 12 teams averaged 5,247 per game, falling just short of its own national record from 2003-04 of 5,381.

After the Big 12, the Southeastern (4,005), Big Ten (3,997), Big East (2,996) and Atlantic Coast (2,719) rounded out the top five in per-game averages. Besides the Big 12, other conferences to set league bests in total attendance were the Atlantic 10, the Southwestern Athletic and the Atlantic Sun. The A-10 and the A-Sun also set highs for average per game.

Other highlights

• Nebraska led all teams in the largest improvement in attendance from the previous season. The Cornhuskers averaged 7,390 fans per home game, 4,179 more per game than in 2008-09. Their 30-game winning streak at the start of the season was a major factor.
• The Division I championship tournament drew 231,644 spectators for an average of 5,515 fans per session over 42 sessions (first and second rounds, regionals and the Final Four). That is well over the 5,213 average in 42 sessions last year and slightly more than the all-time tournament session average of 5,490. This year was the second since the tournament's preliminary-round format reverted to 16 predetermined campus sites for the first and second rounds. From 2005 through 2008, those rounds were conducted with eight teams at eight predetermined sites. Per-session averages in those years (including regionals and the Final Four) ranged from a high of 6,955 in 2008 to a low of 5,569 in 2006.
• The Division II tournament set a record for most total fans at 56,430. It broke the record of 54,775 set in 2003. The 2010 total was over 44 sessions and averaged 1,283 fans a game.
• The Division III tournament had 38,423 fans for a 915 average in 42 sessions.
• In Division II, Northern State captured the attendance title for the third straight season, averaging 2,897 fans per game. Next was Fort Hays State at 2,214, followed by Emporia State (2,118), St. Cloud State (2,080) and Washburn (2,031).
• In Division III, Hope ran away with its second straight attendance title by averaging 1,138 per game. The rest of the top five were Howard Payne (839), Wisconsin-Stout (777), Mississippi College (773) and George Fox (767).
• For Division II conferences, the 11 teams of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association recorded a second straight attendance title by averaging 1,314 per game. In Division III, the nine teams of the Iowa Intercollegiate earned the league's eighth title all-time at 461 fans per game.

For a complete report, click here.

DIVISION I

DIVISION II

DIVISION III