STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern was one of 32 winners in the NCAA Division I "Pack the House" challenge and was best in the Southern Conference, it was recently announced by the NCAA.
In the national effort, schools urged fans to "Pack the House in Pink" for selected women's basketball games from January 1 through February 17. Almost two-thirds of the Division I membership - 198 institutions - participated in the effort that attracted more than 592,000 fans.
Georgia Southern packed 1,710 fans - women's basketball's fourth-largest crowd - into Hanner Fieldhouse for the game on January 26 versus Western Carolina. Seventy programs surpassed their single-game attendance highs from last year.
"It was exciting news to learn about being designated as the Southern Conference winner for the 'Pack the House in Pink' challenge," said Director of Athletics Sam Baker. "I want to thank everyone in the community, the Women's Service League of Statesboro, the Phi Mu and Zeta Tau Alpha for all of their efforts that led to the best crowds we've had here at Hanner Fieldhouse in quite a while."
"Pack the House" is a first-year national effort in which conferences and institutions compete to build attendance. One winner from each of the 31 conferences and one from a group of independent institutions were named. Selections were based on marketing plan creativity and attendance criteria. The NCAA will award prizes and donate $500 to the nonprofit organization of each winning institution's choice.
Georgia Southern will make the donation to the Women's Service League of Statesboro for their contribution to the fight against breast cancer.
"I think it does serve us well to call attention to the efforts to cure cancer," said Baker. "A lot was gained that night and I'm thrilled that Georgia Southern and the efforts of everyone involved were recognized in this manner."
The ideas to market the games were as diverse as the membership itself.
Georgia Southern Athletics, the Southern Conference and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association teamed up to raise awareness of breast cancer treatment, prevention and research by encouraging all in attendance to wear pink at the GSU men's and women's basketball doubleheader at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Prior to tip-off, five members of the community were recognized for their successful battle against breast cancer.
In addition to players, coaches, managers and personnel wearing pink ribbons and other pink attire, Georgia Southern provided literature on breast cancer awareness and collected donations for local initiatives through the Women's Service League and GSU sororities Phi Mu and Zeta Tau Alpha.
Additionally, over 2,000 promotional items such as balloons, buttons, bracelets, shirts and ribbons - all pink - were handed out to promote breast cancer awareness.
Winners of the "Pack the House" challenge are:
CONFERENCE WINNERS
America East - Hartford
Atlantic 10 - Rhode Island
ACC - Virginia
Atlantic Sun - Lipscomb
Big 12 - Oklahoma State
Big East - Louisville
Big Sky - Sacramento State
Big South - Winthrop
Big Ten - Michigan
Big West - UC Davis
CAA - Delaware
Conference USA - East Carolina
Horizon - Youngstown State
Ivy - Columbia
MAAC - Marist
MAC - Miami (Ohio)
MEAC - North Carolina A&T
Missouri Valley - Evansville
Mountain West - Brigham Young
NEC - Wagner
Ohio Valley - Eastern Illinois
Pac-10 - UCLA
Patriot - Lehigh
SEC - South Carolina
SoCon - Georgia Southern
Southland - Texas State
SWAC - Jackson State
Sun Belt - Middle Tennessee
Summit - IUPUI
West Coast - Portland