SPOKANE, Wash. – With fewer teams, games and fans in town, there's a lot less chaos in Spokane for the NCAA Tournament.
The city is hosting women's tournament games at Spokane Arena. Top overall seed UCLA and its 6-foot-7 All-America center Lauren Betts were among the eight teams in town.
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Located in eastern Washington, just about 100 miles south of the Canadian border, Spokane is a mid-sized city that is somewhat unique in that it is a frequent March Madness host. The men's tournament has included games in Spokane six times since 2003. The women's tournament has had games at the arena four times and seven times in the city overall.
“Spokane has a long history of hosting championships,” said Ashley Blake, chief executive officer of Spokane Sports, the regional sports commission. “Spokane is a city that shows up for sports. And this tournament is really no exception. So having that reputation and that experience in our city is really the catalyst for why these tournaments keep selecting Spokane."
But it hasn't always gone smoothly. The area drew unwanted attention last year when there was a perfect storm of sporting events that descended on the city all at the same time. There were men's tournament games and a youth volleyball tournament with more than 700 young players.
On top of that, Gonzaga's women secured a spot in the tournament, too. And as the highest seed, the Zags were given early-round games as host, playing at the school's McCarthey Athletic Center — with just a few days' notice.
With all those teams, athletes and fans in the city at the same time, there was a shortage of suitable hotel rooms. NCAA rules dictate team hotels must meet minimum standards and have proper facilities.
As a result, some of the women's teams were housed in hotels across the border in Idaho, more than a 30-minute drive from downtown Spokane, and that area turned out to be a flashpoint for controversy.
Players for Utah's women's team were walking to a team dinner in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, when the driver of a pickup truck flying a Confederate flag shouted racist language at them. The Utes were moved from the hotel the next day.
“We had several instances of some kind of racial hate crimes toward our program and (it was) incredibly upsetting for all of us,” then-Utah women's coach Lynne Roberts said at the time. Roberts is now coach of the LA Sparks of the WNBA. "In our world, in athletics and in university settings, it’s shocking. There’s so much diversity on a college campus and so you’re just not exposed to that very often.”
Idaho authorities revealed after a two-month investigation that an 18-year-old man admitted to using the racial slur, but the Coeur d’ Alene city attorney declined to bring hate crime charges.
This year is very different. With no men's tournament games scheduled, the issue is largely moot. But the sports commission said it learned about better ways to deal with congestion in the future. Spokane is next set to host men's games in 2027.
“I think the biggest thing is acknowledging what happened. It’s a reminder of this responsibility we all share and making sure that athletes feel supported, respected and safe when they come here to compete," Blake said.
Connecticut star Paige Bueckers marveled at the sellout crowd expected for her team's Sweet 16 game against Oklahoma on Saturday.
Bueckers also competed as a high school student with USA Basketball in Spokane, which has earned the nickname Hooptown for its many NCAA Tournament games, both Gonzaga teams and an annual 3-on-3 summer tournament.
“It means everything to us to be able to travel across the country and get the amount of support," she said. “It's a great basketball community. They love basketball here, they love women's basketball, so it will be exciting.”
In conjunction with this year's tournament games, the city launched the “Spokane Champions Women in Sports” campaign and is holding several events that help “make sure that our teams and our fans and our media, when they come here, they see and feel the support of our community.”
And it doesn't end with March Madness.
“Right after this tournament, we roll right into USA Wrestling’s women's nationals, which will have about 2,000 athletes and their spectators and their families who come alongside," Blake said. "So we really use this platform to launch and start telling the story of what sports tourism means for Spokane and specifically on the women’s side as well.”
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness.