May 16, 2016
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two-time defending champion South Carolina will have its shortest travel to the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament in 12 years as the league announced Monday that the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C., will host the event March 1-5, 2017. It will be the league’s second time hosting the event in Greenville, the last coming in 2005.
“I am so excited that the SEC has chosen Greenville to host the 2017 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said. “The opportunity to showcase women’s basketball in the first pre-determined postseason tournament in our state after the removal of the Confederate flag is sensational. We have seen incredible growth in our fan support, and I can not wait to show the entire country how enthusiastic this state is about women’s basketball.”
The Gamecocks have led the nation in attendance each of the last two seasons, and those fans have shown willingness to travel to see their team play. South Carolina had a strong showing at the 2015 NCAA Regional in Greensboro, N.C., and a strong contingent at the 2016 SEC Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla. The program’s periodic fan bus trips to regular-season games routinely sell out as well.
Tickets for the 2017 SEC Tournament are not yet on sale from any source, but Gamecock fans are encouraged to purchase them through the South Carolina Ticket Office to ensure they can share the experience with other Gamecock fans. Current Gamecock Club members who have received their 2016-17 Playbook may submit a ticket request now, although ticket prices are yet to be determined. All Gamecock Club members and South Carolina women’s basketball season ticket holders will be notified via email when the ticket requests are available for purchase.
As with all South Carolina postseason ticket sales, tickets will be assigned in priority order of Gamecock Club members by priority points, University Faculty/Staff members by hire date and non-Gamecock Club members by number of years they have been a season-ticket holder.
The Bon Secours Wellness Arena seats 15,000 and is the home of the Greenville Swamp Rabbits hockey team, an ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers and the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack.
Fans can submit their email address to receive the most up-to-date information on tickets.
