Southern California guard JuJu Watkins (12) plays against UCLA during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the championship of the Big Ten Conference tournament in Indianapolis, Sunday, March 9, 2025.

This weekend last year, anticipation was high in the Capital Region for the unveiling of the March Madness Women’s NCAA bracket.

The selection committee did not disappoint. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, Dawn Staley’s fierce Gamecocks and LSU’s Angel Reese all put on a spectacular show at a rocking MVP Arena in the Albany Regionals.

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Albany attendance outpaced the west coast regional, Portland, a hotbed for women’s sports. Portland is the site of the nation’s first and super successful women’s sports bar, “The Sports Bra,” which opened in the spring of 2022. Albany, however, is still barely sporting a training bra when it comes to supporting women’s sports.

The NCAA women’s basketball regional tournament was the exception to previous crowds at NCAA women’s events. Iowa was the biggest draw with nearly 14,000 for both the Saturday Sweet 16 win and Monday night’s Elite Eight game against LSU. The........

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