By Susan Harman

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Forty-three years ago the NCAA didn’t even sponsor women’s college athletics. That’s not that long ago. But it’s 2023, and this is Caitlin Clark’s world.

The circus came to town in the form of the Crossover at Kinnick, and 55,646 fans packed the football stadium to watch a women’s basketball exhibition.

“It was just super cool,” fifth-year senior Kate Martin said. “To run out of the tunnel and run out to 55,000 people screaming, I mean, it’s just super special and something we won’t forget the rest of our lives.”

“An unreal experience,” fifth-year senior Molly Davis said. “Two years ago if you ever told me that I’d be experiencing something like this, I would have never believed it. Coming from a mid-major to be on this type of stage and have this big of an impact. It’s truly remarkable.”

In all its trappings it might as well have been a football game. It certainly sounded and acted like one.

An I-O-W-A chant in the second half was loud enough to disrupt communication on the court.

“It was so loud and that’s not something you get in Carver, the IOWA chant,” Clark said. “It’s kind of a special football thing, but football fans, Hawkeye fans, kind of made it into a basketball thing today. It was super fun, and I was like ‘I can’t hear or think right now because it’s so loud,’ and they didn’t stop.”

The parking lots were full of tailgaters. Some young men were playing touch football in one of the last grassy areas that the hospital and stadium haven’t devoured. One of the guys wore a Caitlin Clark 22 shirt. Two hours before the tip fans were walking the sidewalk on the Coralville Strip to get to Kinnick.

The stands began to fill and eventually the north, east and west sides were jammed. Some hearty souls even had seats in the South end zone, 100 yards away.

The women’s basketball team entered the field to football’s “Back in Black” serenade and received a rousing welcome. Even DePaul’s players were warmly welcomed to the court by the massive crowd. DePaul’s Hall of Fame coach, Doug Bruno, had a look like he’d been transported to another universe.

“It just kind of takes your breath away for a moment,” Clark said of the scene.

“It was incredible,” junior Addie O’Grady said. “When we first ran out it was like people are trickling in and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ like anticipation is building up. The second or third time we ran out, and it’s just completely filled. Even people right by the tunnel; they can’t see the court, they can’t. They’re just there because they want to see us and support women’s basketball. It was just crazy.”

During the National Anthem a National Guard plane flew over; it was not exactly the fighter jets that have previously buzzed Kinnick, but the effect on the crowd was about the same.

The temperature was about 54 with a wind. A handful of players wore long-sleeved shirts under their jerseys. Hand warmers were passed around on the bench along with jackets.

“The seats were actually heated but it was like really hot, so we kind of had to turn them off and on,” O’Grady said.

The wind had an impact.

“When we were warming up you had to shoot like you wanted to aim a little bit left,” Davis said.

Gabbie Marshall said she came in knowing the wind could be a factor but didn’t want to change her shot to try to compensate. She got a big roar from the crowd when a three dropped in the final quarter.

Iowa’s first fast break had Clark thread the needle to O’Grady. On the dead run O’Grady corralled the pass with her left hand, transferred it to her right and put it in.

Kylie Feuerbach, who missed last season with a knee injury, received a warm reception when she subbed in.

Iowa’s kid captain, Krysty Bujakowska, was introduced to a standing ovation. Clearly her presence and the experience of “The Wave” at the end of one quarter touched the Iowa players and coaches.

“Those are kind of the moments that you keep forever,” Clark said.

Beach balls bounced around the stands.

During a second-quarter timeout Iowa’s public address DJ played “Jump Around,” the Wisconsin anthem, in honor of the Iowa football team’s victory in Madison the day before. Iowa fans may need some practice with their dance moves, but they were enthusiastic.

With 5:50 left in the first half Clark swished her first three of the day and the place went wild. Clark ended up with 34 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Davis nearly brought the house down with a clever fake that left a DePaul post player sailing past as Davis waited to make the layup.

Iowa won the exhibition, 94-72, but that wasn’t the point on Sunday.

“It was like a dream; it really was,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “It was just fabulous.”

Bluder came up with the idea for the game shortly after the team’s Final Four appearance and interim athletic director Beth Goetz made it work along with just about everyone in the school’s athletic department.

“A lot of administrators I know would say, ‘That’s crazy,’ and think of every reason why not to do it,” Bluder said. “Instead (Goetz) thought of every reason she should do it.”

They pulled it off. Never have more people attended a college women’s game than they did Sunday. And they left fans, players and support personnel with an indelible memory.

“You never really dream about playing your sport in a different stadium,” Marshall said. “So I think the most surreal feeling for me is like ‘I’m really playing basketball outside in a football stadium. Like, that’s not normal.’ So I ended up looking around the first time I came out of the game, and I was like ‘Wow,’ there are so many people here, people filling the sides who can’t really see the court.”

They saw enough to be part of history.