![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_6437-1024x768.jpg\")
Tourney Town at the Phoenix Convention Center includes a display highlighting the history of women\u2019s basketball. (Photo by Heavyn Cooke\/Cronkite News)<\/p>\nPHOENIX \u2013 Walking down East Monroe Street in downtown Phoenix on Thursday, the energy of the Women\u2019s Final Four was impossible to ignore. Buildings were wrapped in the event\u2019s graphics, barricades carried the tournament\u2019s branding and fans wearing team gear filled the streets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As fans made their way through security at the Phoenix Convention Center, they were greeted by a tall statue of the NCAA championship trophy. Surrounding the statue were various branding tables offering free team color hair spray, a Coca-Cola activation and more. While still outside, fans could hear the sound of a basketball hitting a full-size hardwood court in the center of everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tourney Town is more than just a pregame event for fans. It\u2019s a celebration of women\u2019s basketball.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust being immersed in the atmosphere is really cool,\u201d South Carolina fan Daniel Korotkin said. \u201cYou walk in and everything is decked out, and everybody here is just a fan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Korotkin, who lives in Colorado, attended South Carolina for undergraduate and graduate school. He said the explosion of the women\u2019s game is something he witnessed firsthand while attending games as a student. Seeing that support on a national stage feels different.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is amazing,\u201d he said. \u201cYou get to see how much the game has grown and how many people are here to support it.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the space at the convention center opens up, a mixture of colorful and white lights are visible everywhere, mimicking the high energy fans feels from a room filled with people, interactive games, skills challenges and courts for players of all ages. Also offered were booths to take pictures, pick up free merchandise, try new drinks, play games and browse the history of women\u2019s basketball.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Andrew Garcia, the associate director of student-athlete success for the UCLA women\u2019s basketball team, said the environment inside Tourney Town reflected the larger impact of the Women\u2019s Final Four.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great celebration of the game of women\u2019s basketball,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cYou walk around the convention center, see all the events, the people you meet, the stories you hear. Basketball is like a great unifier in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tourney Town at the Phoenix Convention Center includes a display highlighting the history of women\u2019s basketball. (Photo by Heavyn Cooke\/Cronkite News)<\/p>\n
While the Bruins practiced for their meeting against Texas, Garcia spent time at several basketball challenge stations, including the Gallery of Hoops. The challenge was to aim and shoot for the highest of the baskets, while trying to get the ball to drop through three other hoops beneath it. Garcia laughed at his lack of success, noting how grateful he was for the team and this experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo get to this point of the season where there are four teams left, it\u2019s just really big for our basketball community,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s special for the group of young women that we have on our team to be able to celebrate this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
That support stretches across the country. Jerry Liscombe, who lives in Virginia but is originally from Connecticut, made the trip to Phoenix with friends and family, combining basketball with a personal milestone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is our fourth Final Four,\u201d Liscombe said. \u201cWe are celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary with friends, so it gave us a great reason to come out here and be part of it again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter multiple Final Four trips, the feeling has not faded. Every one of them is different, but the energy is always the same. It\u2019s something you look forward to every time.<\/p>\n
Renee Montgomery , a former UConn guard and a two-time WNBA champion with the Minnesota Lynx, said it felt good to see her alma mater back on a national stage. She praised the consistency she is seeing from the Huskies, and the overall evolution of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe coaching staff that coached me is still the coaching staff today, and they\u2019re still successful,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cThe players have changed, the personalities have changed, the game has changed and they still have the same system.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlayers are dunking on a regular basis now. They\u2019re getting the recognition, the TV time, the sponsorship, they\u2019re getting everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
The evolution of the game that Montgomery noted also underscores its history. That history struck Washington D.C. native Victor Powell, who traveled more than four hours to experience his first Final Four with his wife, Allynn Powell.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the section that highlights women\u2019s basketball history is huge,\u201d he said. \u201cIt gives homage not only to the players today, but also to those who paved the way at every level, not just professionally. It also shows the diversity in the game and how it all started, with memorabilia and stories that a lot of people don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2026\/04\/03\/ncaa-women-final-four-tourney-town-phoenix\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org”>Cronkite News<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/favicon1.png?resize=85%2C85&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n
<img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/?republication-pixel=true&post=101773″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2026\/04\/03\/ncaa-women-final-four-tourney-town-phoenix\/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/p.js”><\/script><\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCanonical Tag:<\/strong><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCopy Tag\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArticle Content:<\/strong><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFrom Tourney Town to tipoff: Fans embrace Women\u2019s Final Four atmosphere<\/p>\n Heavyn Cooke and Andrew Hughes, Cronkite News PHOENIX \u2013 Walking down East Monroe Street in downtown Phoenix on Thursday, the energy of the Women\u2019s Final Four was impossible to ignore. Buildings were wrapped in the event\u2019s graphics, barricades carried the tournament\u2019s branding and fans wearing team gear filled the streets.\u00a0<\/p>\n As fans made their way through security at the Phoenix Convention Center, they were greeted by a tall statue of the NCAA championship trophy. Surrounding the statue were various branding tables offering free team color hair spray, a Coca-Cola activation and more. While still outside, fans could hear the sound of a basketball hitting a full-size hardwood court in the center of everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tourney Town is more than just a pregame event for fans. It\u2019s a celebration of women\u2019s basketball.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cJust being immersed in the atmosphere is really cool,\u201d South Carolina fan Daniel Korotkin said. \u201cYou walk in and everything is decked out, and everybody here is just a fan.\u201d<\/p>\n Korotkin, who lives in Colorado, attended South Carolina for undergraduate and graduate school. He said the explosion of the women\u2019s game is something he witnessed firsthand while attending games as a student. Seeing that support on a national stage feels different.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is amazing,\u201d he said. \u201cYou get to see how much the game has grown and how many people are here to support it.\u201d<\/p>\n As the space at the convention center opens up, a mixture of colorful and white lights are visible everywhere, mimicking the high energy fans feels from a room filled with people, interactive games, skills challenges and courts for players of all ages. Also offered were booths to take pictures, pick up free merchandise, try new drinks, play games and browse the history of women\u2019s basketball.\u00a0<\/p>\n Andrew Garcia, the associate director of student-athlete success for the UCLA women\u2019s basketball team, said the environment inside Tourney Town reflected the larger impact of the Women\u2019s Final Four.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great celebration of the game of women\u2019s basketball,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cYou walk around the convention center, see all the events, the people you meet, the stories you hear. Basketball is like a great unifier in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n While the Bruins practiced for their meeting against Texas, Garcia spent time at several basketball challenge stations, including the Gallery of Hoops. The challenge was to aim and shoot for the highest of the baskets, while trying to get the ball to drop through three other hoops beneath it. Garcia laughed at his lack of success, noting how grateful he was for the team and this experience.<\/p>\n \u201cTo get to this point of the season where there are four teams left, it\u2019s just really big for our basketball community,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s special for the group of young women that we have on our team to be able to celebrate this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n That support stretches across the country. Jerry Liscombe, who lives in Virginia but is originally from Connecticut, made the trip to Phoenix with friends and family, combining basketball with a personal milestone.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is our fourth Final Four,\u201d Liscombe said. \u201cWe are celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary with friends, so it gave us a great reason to come out here and be part of it again.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAfter multiple Final Four trips, the feeling has not faded. Every one of them is different, but the energy is always the same. It\u2019s something you look forward to every time.<\/p>\n Renee Montgomery , a former UConn guard and a two-time WNBA champion with the Minnesota Lynx, said it felt good to see her alma mater back on a national stage. She praised the consistency she is seeing from the Huskies, and the overall evolution of the game.<\/p>\n \u201cThe coaching staff that coached me is still the coaching staff today, and they\u2019re still successful,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cThe players have changed, the personalities have changed, the game has changed and they still have the same system.<\/p>\n \u201cPlayers are dunking on a regular basis now. They\u2019re getting the recognition, the TV time, the sponsorship, they\u2019re getting everything.\u201d<\/p>\n The evolution of the game that Montgomery noted also underscores its history. That history struck Washington D.C. native Victor Powell, who traveled more than four hours to experience his first Final Four with his wife, Allynn Powell.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the section that highlights women\u2019s basketball history is huge,\u201d he said. \u201cIt gives homage not only to the players today, but also to those who paved the way at every level, not just professionally. It also shows the diversity in the game and how it all started, with memorabilia and stories that a lot of people don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCopy Content\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTracking snippet:<\/strong><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCopy Snippet\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Heavyn Cooke and Andrew Hughes, Cronkite News April 3, 2026 PHOENIX \u2013 Walking down East Monroe Street…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":702811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,156555,1589,283804,25088,288007,293435,266012,9766,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,287204],"class_list":{"0":"post-702810","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-ncaa-womens-basketball","12":"tag-phoenix","13":"tag-renee-montgomery","14":"tag-south-carolina-womens-basketball","15":"tag-texas-womens-basketball","16":"tag-tourney-town","17":"tag-ucla-womens-basketball","18":"tag-uconn-womens-basketball","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-usa","25":"tag-womens-final-four"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116342816040870765","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=702810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=702810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=702810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=702810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nApril 3, 2026<\/p>\n