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The OSU WBB team will face off against Eastern Washington on Friday, and local businesses are ready for an influx of attendees.
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State Beavers will get to open the 2024 NCAA Women’s Tournament from their own court this year, after Gill Coliseum was selected to host the first and second round of this year’s NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018-2019.
The Beavers will open the tournament on Friday, March 22, facing Eastern Washington at 5 p.m. If the Beavers advance, they will play the winner of Friday’s 7:30 p.m. game between Nebraska vs. Texas A&M on Sunday, March 23 at a time still to be announced.
Many Beaver fans and OSU students, like Sam Norgrove, said it will be exciting to watch their team not only open the tournament, but start the tournament on their home court.
It’s the first time OSU has been selected to host the tournament since 2018-2019.
“It’s really exciting. I was able to go to a couple of games this year and it was so much fun, so I assume because it will be March Madness games it will be even more fun,” Norgrove said. “I think it’s really cool for the town and just students in general to be able to watch a game here.”
As fans are gearing up for the weekend, so are restaurants and local businesses near campus, like Local Boyz Hawaiian Cafe, who expect to be a hotspot during Friday’s opening day.
“Usually when it is a sports season we get all the fans, so we get very busy with everyone coming into town, getting a quick snack, before they go to the games,” Gina Trent, a server at Local Boyz said. “Usually we know when these big games are happening; we have them on a calendar, so we are prepared for these big crowds. We make extra food, we have everything stocked up, so we’re always prepared when there are big games in town.”
Three teams will be traveling from out of state to Corvallis for the women’s tournament.
Gary Evans, the General Manager of Clodfelter’s Bar and Grill in Corvallis, is no stranger to game day crowds, saying he and his staff are excited to see the game day crowds they know and love.
“The staff’s all excited, we’re all jacked up for it, because if anything happens, it’s going to be busy, good vibes from whoever is here, especially if the Beavs win,” Evans said. “It’s just packed. It’s just good good vibes all over the place. You’ve got OSU fans, and then you get the competitor fans and everyone’s in good spirits and everybody’s having a good time.”
The first two rounds of the NCAA Women’s basketball tournament will be held at Gill Coliseum on March 22 and March 24.
Evans and Trent both said game days are known to bring great energy to the city, but they also bring good business, another reason to look forward to the tournament.
“It’s been a tough year this year, but a lot of women’s basketball helped quite a bit,” Evans said. “Anything that happens across the street at OSU really helps us out.”
“It will probably be crazy,” Trent said. “Hopefully everyone will be excited. I’m sure it will be busy.”
KEZI will have continuing coverage on the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament with KEZI 9 Sports.
Jennifer Singh joined the KEZI 9 News team in July 2023 as a news reporter. If you have any story ideas for Jennifer, you can email her at jsingh@kezi.com.
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