By Caroline Routh, WRAL Sports contributor

Women’s basketball has made a splash in the Triangle this year. Duke, NC State and UNC all made the NCAA Tournament earning top seeds that allowed them to host the first two rounds of the tournament in their home gymnasiums.

On the men’s side of the basketball world, Duke has been the talk of the town, having a dominant season that resulted in a No. 1 seed for them in the Big Dance, but other men’s teams in the Triangle have struggled. The Tar Heels suffered an early exit from the NCAA Tournament in the Round of 64, while the Men’s Wolfpack didn’t make the Big Dance at all.

With two of the three men’s teams in the area already out, the focus has shifted to women’s basketball as the Triangle continues to ride the wave of the growing women’s game.

Raleigh got to host both the Men’s March Madness in the Lenovo Center and the Women’s March Madness at Reynolds Coliseum.

NC State women’s basketball head coach Wes Moore has been in the game for 34 years, but he never expected to see growth quite like this.

“I don’t know if I saw this on the radar when I first got here to NC State. It’s just exploded,” Moore said. “I think our Final Four maybe outgrew the men’s Final Four viewership last year.”

Viewership is exploding for women’s sports. Last year’s NCAA Women’s National Championship did in fact have more television viewers than the NCAA Men’s National Championship.

Caitlin Clark rocked the women’s college basketball world last year leading to a large influx of fans. But it’s not just superstars like Clark who draw viewers.

UNC fifth-year Alyssa Ustby explains that the growth is bigger than any one player or person.

“I’ve been really fortunate to be alongside so many women’s basketball players that have a lot of courage and use their voices to speak up for change and have been just trailblazers in that industry,” Ustby said. “There are so many players that contributed to growing the game where it needs to go.”

Ustby also shared how she’s seen the game grow firsthand through her family.

“I have three older brothers, and none of them watched any women’s sports. Now, all they care about is women’s basketball. They found a different sense of joy and pride in what the women’s game offers over the men’s,” Ustby said.

Many fans are beginning to gravitate to the women’s game, especially after last year’s attention. Osayamen Ediae, a Robertson Scholar at both UNC and Duke has enjoyed cheering on both women’s teams this season.

“It’s been so exciting to watch women’s basketball, particularly because I feel like I’ve been a men’s basketball fan, only because that’s where all the hype has been, but I feel like last year and this year, it’s been so much more women’s basketball hype. It has been so much fun to be a part of that,” Ediae said.

Duke women’s basketball head coach Kara Lawson reflects on what’s so special about this region for women’s basketball.

“There was a time that this was the best area in the country for women’s college basketball, and I think we can get back to that,” Lawson said. “I think the three programs are strong. They’re really good teams.”

And Lawson’s right – these are really good teams. March Madness is of course filled with excitement and the unexpected, but there is something we can be sure of in the Big Dance.

The growing women’s game isn’t the result of any one player or fan or coach – it’s a result of everyone coming together to celebrate women’s basketball greatness. And there’s no better place to do that right now than in the Triangle.

“How many metropolitan areas do you know of that could have three teams like that in one area?” Lawson said. “There’s nothing like it in the country.”

Source: wralsportsfan.com