The impact of Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KWQC) - So far this season, the Iowa women’s basketball is 13-1 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. As they prepare to host the opening round of the NCAA tournament, players and coaches agree that their fans play a pivotal role on gamedays.

“The crowd is going to help us a lot. I don’t know if [our opponents] played in front of 15,000 fans like that before, so I think that will be a little bit change of pace for them,” said Kate Martin, a Hawkeyes graduate student. “We’ve not taken it for granted all year, and it’s just a very fun atmosphere if you get to come to a game. You can just see that for yourself, and we really enjoy it, and we appreciate our fans so much.”

“It’s definitely a momentum shift for sure,” said Sydney Affolter, a Hawkeyes junior. “They don’t know how much they really bring to us. Like, some really tight games, like, we don’t necessarily win without them, so it’s so awesome to have 15,000 fans every time we play.”

“It’s something inside you when that crowd gets with you, and you feel that sound that is reverberating in your chest,” said Jan Jensen, Iowa’s associate head coach. “You can hear it. It just gives you an unbelievable, ya know, burst. It’s our job to make sure everybody has a lot to get loud about, ya know.”

“It’s amazing. There’s no place like home. I know that sounds cliche but it’s true,” said Hannah Stuelke, a Hawkeyes sophomore. “There is no place like Iowa City, and our fans are so supportive of us, and I’m excited to get back out in front of them.”

Iowa and Holy Cross tip off at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.