Shortly after 2 p.m. on Friday, a small queue of fans patiently waited at McKale Center’s ticket office for their chance to watch the UA women’s basketball team host the NCAA tournament for the second time in school history.
Standing at the front of the line and decked out in Wildcats gear from head-to-toe, Tucson teacher Grace Lena said she wouldn’t miss Saturday’s game for anything.
Like many purchasing tickets for Saturday’s first round game, Lena also bought tickets for Monday’s second round.
“You’ve got to have that confidence!” she said.
Lena was in the stands when the UA first hosted 24 years ago. She still has all her t-shirts from previous seasons and is thinking of wearing one to Saturday’s game.
“I live here in Tucson and bring my (students) out here sometimes for the Junior Wildcat Club,” Lena said as she waited for her tickets, a must-have souvenir for fans not of the digital era, to print out. “It’s kind of a tradition. You just have to get those tickets for the women’s games. And the men’s sometimes.”
Lena wasn’t alone in the ticket line. Though it wasn’t ever long, there were at least one or two fans at the window throughout a hot Friday afternoon.
In the span of 15 minutes, a student employee made two separate merchandise drops to The A-Store at McKale Center, navigating a hand truck piled high with boxes of T-shirts through the line of fans.
As of Friday morning, the UA had sold 9,000 tickets for Saturday’s games. Wildcats coach Adia Barnes said Friday’s afternoon that while she was still hoping for a sellout, she thought at least 12,000 or 13,000 fans would attend.
“Most teams aren’t prepared to play in front of 12, 13, 14,000 people, and that’s how many we’re going to have,” Barnes said. “It’s a very tough environment, it’s very hard to play here and we know that and that’s an advantage for us.”
Tucson teacher Grace Lena waits for her tickets to Saturday’s NCAA women’s basketball tournament games at McKale Center on Friday, March 18. Lena was in the stands for the Wildcats’ first NCAA tournament hosting gig 16 years ago.
Longtime fan Nancy Billeci didn’t make it out to Friday’s open practice, but she was gearing up for a Saturday evening full of tournament play at McKale.
“I’ll be there to watch the other game, too, to scout out the next opponent,” Bilecci said. “Hopefully, they don’t take anyone lightly.”
A season ticket holder since 1996, Bilecci has been a fan of the Wildcats’ women’s basketball team since moving to Tucson in 1994.
She attends Barnes’ weekly radio show at Flora’s Market Run during the season.
While she made her feelings for the team’s coach clear, Bilecci wouldn’t name a favorite player — saying it wouldn’t be fair to the other girls. She quickly called forward Sam Thomas a fan favorite, saying the player was always so hospitable about taking photos with or coming to talk to fans.
Billeci said she was looking forward to watching Thomas take play against her sister, UNLV sophomore Jade Thomas, in Saturday night’s game.
“I can’t wait to see them when they call up the captains,” she said with a chuckle.
Billeci was active on social media all week, taking to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in an attempt to get fans to pack McKale Center.
“I’ve done my part to try to get people,” she said. “We love Adia and wish them the best and hope they just take it one game at time, like they did last year.”
