Louisville women hope to get big crowd vs. Maryland

Unless the KFC Yum! Center ends up hosting a Final Four someday, there is unlikely to ever be a women's basketball game in town with more at stake than Tuesday night's NCAA Louisville Regional final between the University of Louisville and Maryland, and the Cardinals hope a big, loud crowd comes out to support them.

U of L announced that, as it did for Sunday's semifinals, tickets for the lower bowl of the arena are sold out, meaning that at least about 10,000 fans will be on hand. Tickets for the upper bowl of the 22,000-seat building are now on sale for $10, and U of L wants all the fans it can get.

"This is a great opportunity to see us or Maryland cut down the nets, and that's a really, really unique opportunity," said U of L assistant athletic director Josh Heird, who is directing the tournament. "The community has done a terrific job of supporting the events that we've hosted here the last couple years."

U of L is hopeful that it can approach or break the attendance record of a single session of a regional round, which is 16,182, set at the Midwest semifinals at The Pit in Albuquerque, N.M., in 2003.

Sunday afternoon's Louisville Regional doubleheader, in which Maryland beat Tennessee and U of L beat LSU, drew 11,097 fans — the fifth-biggest crowd for a Sweet 16 session.

"I can't thank the crowd enough," Heird said. "We're asking for even more (Tuesday night). … We want to top that (Albuquerque record), and I think we can."

Women's Final Four sites have already been named through 2016, but Heird said it's possible that Louisville will look into submitting a bid to host a year after that.

Before Tuesday's game, there will be a 5:45 p.m. pep rally on the corner of Washington and Second streets, outside the Troll Pub, just east of the arena. Washington Street will be closed to traffic, and U of L's pep band, cheerleaders and Ladybirds dance squad will participate.

— Steve Jones