An intriguing conversation has been triggered by the court-storming incident that occurred last weekend with Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. The star guard was inadvertently knocked down by an Ohio State supporter who was hurrying to join the celebration after the No. 15 Buckeyes defeated the No. 2 Hawkeyes.

Should more security be thought about at games given the increasing interest in and parity for women’s collegiate basketball as well as the frequency of upsets in the sport?

Less than ten months have passed since almost 10 million people watched the LSU vs. Iowa championship game in April of last year, when Clark collided with a supporter. South Carolina and Iowa, two states with strong attendance last year, have witnessed a sharp rise this year. For 2023–24, LSU sold just less than 10,000 season tickets, nearly doubling their sales from the previous year. All of Iowa’s remaining away games are sold out, largely due to Clark and her quest for the scoring record. It was Ohio State’s largest women’s basketball attendance history, drawing almost three times as many fans as the Buckeyes usually do.

Ohio State players celebrate their 100-92 victory against Iowa at Value City Arena as spectators swarm the court.
After being removed, Clark said she was fine, but Iowa coach Lisa Bluder and she were disappointed that Ohio State didn’t have a strategy in place to assist players in leaving the floor securely. (After the crash, athletic director Gene Smith and coach Kevin McGuff of the Buckeyes issued an instant apology.) The Big Ten informed the Associated Press that Ohio State will not be penalized for the event.

At the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Thursday, No. 9 LSU takes on No. 1 South Carolina in a game that is anticipated to sell out to over 13,000 spectators. Tickets on the secondary market near the court can cost up to $4,000 and are marketed for $1,000 or more. For its pregame broadcast, College GameDay will be present on location. The Tigers’ coach, Kim Mulkey, stated that she anticipates “one heck of an atmosphere.” The team is the reigning national champions. She did not, however, voice concerns about a possible out-of-control postgame party.

Regarding having additional protection, she replied, “It wouldn’t matter.” “What level of security is there at a football game? It would be irrelevant. At a football game, how much security is there and can you still notkeep them at bay, isn’t that right? How many pupils will be held behind by one guy? Even if you arrange security personnel in a column akin to that of soldiers, you will ultimately be outnumbered.

Even so, LSU is ready for anything that might happen if the Tigers give South Carolina its first loss of the year.

LSU’s chief brand officer, Cody Worsham, stated, “We do have a court-storming protocol that allows us to deploy security as needed to prevent fan access to the competition area.” “For bigger games, we certainly have a heightened sense of awareness on these matters.”

Court-storming is a relatively new and infrequent occurrence in women’s basketball. No supporters stormed the floor, even after the nation’s top-ranked team suffered an upset, as No. 1 South Carolina did in March 2022 when it fell to unranked Kentucky in the SEC tournament title game. Similarly, despite a throng of 9,301 spectators, Sabrina Ionescu’s No. 2 Oregon team was taken by surprise when playing No. 12 Oregon State away from home in 2019.

The majority of women’s teams, while there are some outliers, do not travel with security. This is the situation with reigning champion LSU, who had superstar NIL players like rapper Flau’jae Johnson and athlete Angel Reese. But the Tigers seem more concerned with getting players from the bus to the arena safely than with keeping players safe during an exuberant post-game celebration on the court. (Visiting women’s basketball teams in the SEC are assigned a police officer who remains with the team or head coach for the duration of their stay in the facility.

Nobody rushed the floor during even the largest upset in women’s basketball history, which occurred when fourth-seeded Louisville defeated defending champion Baylor 82-81 in the 2013 Sweet 16. However, that was most likely due to the NCAA running it.

Schools hosting NCAA championship games are “expected to have security plans in place,” according to NCAA spokesperson Meghan Wright, who sent an email to USA TODAY Sports. The NCAA offers expertise to schools in need of support, even though it does not have a formal document outlining best practices for court-storming.

When hosting neutral venues such as the Final Four, the NCAA collaborates with local law enforcement and host venue security to create a postgame strategy. Naturally, it is beneficial that at neutral site events,A variety of fan bases exist. When court-storming, the arena is typically filled with a single, fervent fan base.

Mulkey stated on Wednesday that following a national championship victory, she would like it if supporters could assault the court. She also said that she doesn’t always know “how good or bad our fans are, I know they love us,” but regardless of the result, she expects them to respect the rules and remain off the floor just like everyone else.