Monday’s second round NCAA women’s tournament matchup between the No. 1 seed Hawkeyes and No. 8 seed West Virginia Mountaineers, broadcast by ESPN, averaged 4.9 million viewers, marking the largest pre-Final Four audience in women’s March Madness, Sports Media Watch reported Tuesday.
Iowa defeated West Virginia 64-54 on Monday behind a 32-point, eight-rebound performance from Clark, who shot 8-for-22 from the field, 5-for-14 from three and 11-for-12 from the free throw line in 40 minutes of work. The Mountaineers tied it up 52-52 with 2:15 remaining, before the Hawkeyes pulled away and closed the game on a 12-2 run. With the win, Iowa advances to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in five tournaments to face No. 5 Colorado.
SWEET 16: Caitlin Clark returns to action Saturday as Iowa meets Colorado in women’s NCAA Tournament
In comparison, Iowa’s first-round victory over No. 16 seed Holy Cross drew 3.2 millions viewers to ABC Saturday, becoming the most-viewed first round game on record, ESPN announced. The weekend’s slate of games across ESPN platforms was the most-consumed first round of the NCAA women’s tournament ever, with 1.5 billion minutes watched, ESPN said.
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No. 3 seed UConn’s 86-64 rout of No. 16 Jackson State drew in 1.1 million viewers for the third most-viewed first round game on record. No. 3 LSU’s 70-60 victory over No. 14 Rice attracted just over 762,000 viewers.
Sweet 16 action kicks off on Friday.