When the Mississippi State University women’s basketball team takes the court Sunday, they will be playing a familiar foe, the Mississippi Rebels. They may also be playing in front of an unusually large crowd.
For the second straight year Zeta Tau Alpha will try to “Pack The Hump.”
“Hopefully we will have a good turnout like last year,” said ZTA service chairwoman Ginger Thomas said. “There was a good group last year and we had a lot of fun.”
Last season the event drew a school record 6,055 fans at a women’s sporting event.
ZTA President Lindsey Basham said, the event was inspired by a Bulldog player at the time.
“Latoya Thomas mentioned in the paper that she would like to play before a big crowd once in her career,” Basham said. “So we decided to try and get a lot of people there to support the team because they deserved it.”
Thomas has since gone on to play before larger crowds in the WNBA as the first pick in last year’s draft.
The Lady Dawgs have won three of their last four SEC games and have a chance to redeem themselves for a 69-60 loss to the Rebels earlier this season in Oxford.
With a record-breaking crowd expected for Saturday’s men’s game against Ole Miss, Basham thinks fans should stick around for the women’s game the next day.
“The crowds for the guys’ games are always great,” Basham said. “But the fans should come out and support our girls too because they are just as fun.”
Tip-off is set for 1:20 p.m. Sunday afternoon. The game will be televised on ESPN2.