Sunday’s NCAA women’s title game draws record TV audience

BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — LSU’s 102-85 victory overIowa in Sunday’s national championship game was the most-viewedNCAA women’s basketball game on record, with 9.9 million viewers onABC and ESPN2 according to fast national numbers by Nielsen.

The total audience is a 103% jump over last year, when SouthCarolina defeated UConn and averaged 4.85 million on ESPN andESPN2. The audience on Sunday at one point peaked at 12.6million.

LSU’s first national title in women’s basketball was the firston network television since UConn’s win over Tennessee in 1995.That game averaged 7.4 million on CBS.

ESPN took over the rights to the entire tournament the followingyear. The previous network high for a women’s national championshipgame was in 2002, when UConn beat Oklahoma.

The record ratings come as the NCAA is deciding whether toseparate the women’s tournament or keep it as part of thechampionships TV package that includes at least 24 sports. Thatcontract expires next year, with the NCAA expected to decide thenext steps in negotiations by the fall.