SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — As soon as Syracuse was placed in the Sioux Falls region for the women’s basketball NCAA tournament, one of the first questions permeating throughout the Ferguson Auditorium, where the team watched the selection show with fans, was where is Sioux Falls and why are the regionals being played there?

What people might not have known is that the Summit League, which hosts its men’s and women’s conference tournaments at the Sanford Denny Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has led the nation in women’s basketball conference tournament attendance for quarterfinals, semifinals and finals over the past two years.

“We have a lot of community support for women’s basketball,” Summit League commissioner Tom Douple said. “It just made sense for us to put in a bid. With this arena, it doesn’t get any better than this. But people outside this area, over there in Syracuse, you know, ‘Ah, why do we have to go out to Sioux Falls?’ But when you lead the nation in women’s attendance in the conference tournaments, and that’s everybody, Connecticut, everybody. Every conference. We beat them. There’s interest here.”

The No. 4 seed Orange (28-7, 13-3 Atlantic Coast) will take on No. 7 seed Tennessee (22-13, 8-8 Southeastern) on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at the Premier Center for a chance to advance to its first-ever Final Four. No. 1 seed South Carolina and No. 3 seed Ohio State both lost in the Sweet 16. None of those four teams hail from anywhere close to Sioux Falls, but the regional semifinals still drew 4,610 fans.

The push to have the NCAA tournament come to Sioux Falls began eight years ago, Douple said, when the Summit League moved its tournament to the largest city in South Dakota. The women’s basketball Summit League championship game between South Dakota and South Dakota State drew 8,647.

“We know how good it is,” said Douple, who previously spent four years on the NCAA’s Championships Cabinet. “We know that we lead the nation in attendance and we kept sending out those releases and telling everyone we lead the nation and so forth. But until you have the national media come in and see what we have and see that the interest is here, it’s another step for us.”

Hosting four teams from four completely different regions presented a challenge, Douple said, but it also meant all four teams could share their experiences and recognition for Sioux Falls as a basketball hotbed could grow.

After Syracuse was slotted to play in the Sioux Falls region, guard Brittney Sykes was asked if she knew anything about the city.

“I honestly don’t know. Where is it located? South Dakota?” Sykes said after someone whispered the correct answer. “Wow. South Dakota. It’s a neutral site.”

Now, Sykes is helping Syracuse make its deepest postseason run ever in the city she barely knew of two weeks ago.

Every player and coach that has been asked about Sioux Falls as a hosting site has been complimentary of the city, but no one gave a more ringing endorsement than Tennessee head coach Holly Warlick.

“We’re very appreciative of the hospitality here, the opportunity to play,” Warlick said. “Everybody’s been super. I would suggest to come back and put a regional here. The crowd last night was really solid for four teams who weren’t close to this area, and the people came out and supported it. That’s a tribute to the love for women’s basketball in this area.”

Published on March 26, 2016 at 11:12 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds