The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Regionals returning in 2022
The NCAA Women’s Basketball tournament is slated to return to the Park City.
Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport will host the East Regional in 2022, the NCAA announced on Wednesday. UConn and Fairfield will serve as co-hosts.
The city has previously hosted the tournament seven times since 2004, including first and second round games in 2004, 2008 and 2012, and the regional finals in 2006, 2013, 2016 and 2017.
Every stop to date has included an appearance by UConn. The Huskies have historically fared well in Bridgeport, winning 13 of the 14 tournament games they’ve played there. Their only loss was a 63-61 overtime setback to Duke in the 2006 Elite 8.
“We’re excited to partner with UConn and Fairfield to bring a regional back,” Charlie Dowd, the senior vice president of operations at WBA, said Wednesday by phone. “It’s very important to us. I think we’ve done a nice job.”
UConn’s last three stops in Bridgeport for the regional ended with trips to the Final Four, most recently in 2017. Playing before capacity crowds of 8,830 and 8,978, the Huskies defeated UCLA and Oregon, respectively, to make it to Dallas.
“Our results have been very favorable — great crowds and lots of excitement,” Dowd said. “Hopefully we can continue to do so.”
Greensboro, N.C., Spokane, Wash., and Wichita, Kan., were named the other regional sites for 2022.
Also announced on Wednesday were the regional sites for the 2021 tournament: Albany, N.Y., Austin, Texas, Cincinnati, and Spokane, Wash.