Thousands of fans gather on the University of Iowa Pentacrest to celebrate with the Iowa women’s basketball team on Friday evening in Iowa City. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

IOWA CITY — Cher Wirth went 70 years without ever seeing a women’s basketball game.

Even when friends’ daughters were playing basketball, Wirth did not make it to a game. The 2022-23 Hawkeyes changed that.

“I told my son, ‘Man, I’ve been missing out,’ ” said the 71-year-old Wirth, who lives in Coralville. “This has really been great.”

Thousands of fans turned out on a warm Friday evening in downtown Iowa City to celebrate this year’s women’s basketball team and its historic season, leading to the NCAA Final Four and the national runner-up.

“Seriously, we love you guys,” star player Caitlin Clark shouted to the crowd. “And next year, let’s be here, celebrate a national championship.”

University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson said, “This is a great, great moment for us as a university, for women’s sports, for this incredible team. They are just as special as they seem in the media. They are a true, true great group of student-athletes.”

Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague enthusiastically and passionately proclaimed April 14, 2023, “Iowa Women’s Basketball Team Day” in Iowa City.

“Every now and then I go across the nation and tell people I’m the mayor of Iowa City, and they say, ‘Where’s that?’ ” Teague said. “That won’t happen anymore because of these women right here.”

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark waves to fans during an end-of-season celebration event on the Pentacrest in Iowa City on Friday, April 14, 2023. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

This year was Iowa’s second Final Four trip in the women’s program history, with the first coming in 1993. This year was the team’s first-ever appearance in the national championship game.

“I have shed a lot of tears of joy this month,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said to the crowd. “It has been a historic year for our program — there is no doubt — and I can’t think of making history with anybody else but every one of you guys.”

Shane Taffe, a chiropractor in Algona, was supposed to have patients Friday afternoon, but he cleared his schedule so he and his family could drive to Iowa City and catch a glimpse of the Hawkeyes.

“They’re just so exciting to watch,” Taffe said. “We just felt within us that we should come down here and support them.”

It’s not hard to find others, either at Friday’s celebration or elsewhere, who has been captivated by the 2022-23 Hawkeyes.

Teresa Kessler of Coralville said Iowa is a “fantastic team to look up to and watch” for younger generations.

“I’ve got a seven-year-old grandson who knows all the stats,” Kessler said. “And he draws their pictures. I should have brought one.”

Steve Schropp, of Parnell, remembers seeing a fan at a game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena who was from Colorado.

“My sister lives here,” the woman told Schropp. “I called her up and say, ‘If I come back to visit you, will you take me to an Iowa girls’ basketball game.”

Iowa players and coaches had some fun with the celebration, capping off the event with a rap that assistant coach Abby (Emmert) Stamp created before the Big Ten tournament.

"Little Abby Emmert from Winterset, Iowa, decides she’s going to drop some bars, and she’s going to get everybody fired up on our team in our locker room about getting this confetti,” associate head coach Jan Jensen explained to the crowd before the rap.

"Ring, bling, confetti, we ready,” the team rapped. “Ring, bling, confetti, we ready.”

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Friday’s high turnout was another sign of burgeoning interest in Iowa women’s basketball during and after the postseason run.

The Hawkeyes’ Elite Eight, Final Four and national championship games each broke ESPN’s viewership records for the respective round.

The 9.9 million viewers tuning into the Iowa-LSU championship game outnumbered on average the viewership of this year’s Cotton Bowl and Season 26 of ABC’s “The Bachelor” combined.

Iowa already has seen demand surge for next year’s season tickets. Along with 6,500 existing season ticket holders, Iowa received 6,700 new ticket deposits before having to pause the deposits.

“We do have the best fans in America,” UI Athletics Director Gary Barta said.

As for Wirth from Coralville, she already has plans to make up for lost time now that center Monika Czinano has been drafted by the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.

“When Monika got drafted for L.A., first thing I thought of is, ‘L.A. in the wintertime — I might go to that game,’” Wirth said. “Make sure you wear your Hawkeye clothes and get a group of friends and get out there.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com