A women-only sports bar in Minneapolis was a raucous scene Friday night as fans packed in to watch the Final Four of the women's college basketball playoffs.
Dozens of people packed into A Bar of Their Own, which opened in February in the city's Seward neighborhood and prides itself on its focus on women's sports.
Friday's biggest crowd consisted of Iowa Hawkeyes fans and star player Caitlin Clark. About an hour before the game against the University of Connecticut, about 10 patrons were wearing Iowa shirts at the bar. Some Iowa fans admitted they don't care if Connecticut wins because Twin Cities native Paige Bueckers plays for the Huskies.
But Terry Keecher didn't have mixed feelings about wanting his Buccaneers to lose.
“I feel for her and I think she's a great player, but my heart belongs to the Hawkeyes,” Keecher, wearing yellow Iowa pajama pants, said while sitting at a bar with a friend. . “Once you're a Hawkeye, you're always a Hawkeye.”
Abby DeSohn, coach of the University of Minnesota cheer team, was also rooting for Iowa. But she said it's okay if things don't go Iowa's way.
“I'm really happy which team wins because both teams have done a really great job all season,” she said.
South Carolina fans gathered on the other side of the bar, happily watching their team defeat North Carolina State. Em Harding, a graduate student at the university, attended South Carolina State as an undergraduate, where she ran cross country and track. She wants Iowa to win so the Shamcocks can avenge last year's loss to the Hawkeyes.
“Personally I don't like them and I'm not really going to root for them in any game, but I want revenge,” Harding said.
After arriving at the bar wearing South Carolina gear, Harding and his partner found several other Shamcocks fans watching the game together. Those who didn't make it to their table in time wandered around the sidewalk, occasionally checking their scores through the window.
The audience was mostly made up of women, but there were also a few tables of men watching the game. Bar owner Jillian Hickok said she thinks this is a special time for women's sports and for female fans in the Twin Cities.
“This is really the perfect storm of increased exposure for the great products athletes are showing off on the court,” she said.
