When a friend told me that the weekend before the Super Bowl would see all three Nebraska-based Division I men's teams at home, I jumped at the chance and booked a flight. I completely forgot that the Creighton women play in their own venue, and only when I checked my basketball map did I realize this. Amazingly, they also had a game on the Saturday; unfortunately it started just an hour before the Omaha Mavericks game across town. So I had a decision to make. Pay a visit to D.J. Sokol Arena and see one quarter of the game, or return to Omaha in the future. Well, without infinite time and resources, another trip to Nebraska just to see a women's basketball game is not likely, so I decided to venture over to the venue.
D.J. Sokol Arena is located on Creighton's campus in downtown Omaha, just a few blocks from Charles Schwab Field, home of the College World Series. The arena is next to the Ryan Athletic Center (visible on the right in the photo above), which houses all of the athletics support organizations. There is free street parking along Florence Boulevard if you get there early enough, or a $10 lot across the street.
Opened in 2009, Sokol has a capacity of 2,950 and is also used for volleyball, which has been very successful during Creighton's time in both the Missouri Valley and Big East conferences. Just inside Entrance 1, which is where the box office can be found, is a display case with plenty of trophies from both volleyball and women's basketball.
Tickets are just $10 for general admission, and you get a hard stub. Out of the three venues I visited on this day, Sokol was the only one to give a hard stub at the box office, something I found very annoying and will harp on at length in the other posts.
The arena is quite simple, with a rectangular exterior concourse that contains a few displays such as the Athletics Hall of Fame above, as well as some concession stands. There is also a concession at the top of one of the seating areas, and they had a combo deal, with a hot dog, bag of chips, and 32-oz souvenir cup, all for just $5. That lasted me through the other two games!
There are five sections on each side, with the end sections having just 8 seats, those next to them 12, and 24 seats in the middle section, an interesting setup. Attendance was only 1,315 so there was plenty of space and nobody checking tickets.
General admission tickets are for the benches behind one basket, next to the band. There were few students at this one, given that the men had a game that night and there was lots of drinking to be done beforehand.
You can enter the gym through the corners as well, useful if you are in the GA sections or on the ends.
The women have had some success, including a WNIT title in 2004 and making the Elite Eight last season, where they were a 10-seed and upset 7-seed Colorado, 2-seed Iowa, and 3-seed Iowa State before falling to top seed and eventual champion South Carolina, who beat fellow Big East school UConn in the final.
The Big East has four schools where the women play in a gym that the men do not use, and I have been to them all now, though I could not get in to the game at Georgetown due to idiotic COVID rules. Thankfully, those seem to be a thing of the past.
Overall, Sokol Arena is a decent venue for women's hoops and one that is worth visiting if you happen to be in Omaha during basketball season and looking for something to do. The basketball is not that bad either.
The Game
Fellow Queens residents St. John's were in town with an 8-4 conference record, while Creighton was a half-game better at 9-4.
The first quarter was evenly played, with Creighton leading 20-17 after ten minutes of action. I was impressed with the quality of the basketball; there is no comparison to the mid-major women's games I have attended. Pretty passing, excellent shooting, and the running of plays were obvious through the first frame.
I moved into a corner seat for the second quarter and Creighton scored four quick points, leading to a St. John's timeout, and signalling my exit. Creighton went on to win 81-65, shooting 59%, including 13/24 from long range. This turned out to be the best shooting performance on the day, and far better then the men's 38% later that evening, though of course, opposition defense has a lot to do with that.
Notes
This was my sixth women's-only gym of the 20 in the NCAA. It's unfortunate that I could not see more of the game, but at this point, with 265 arenas left in my NCAA hoops quest, touring the venue is paramount and if the schedule maker doesn't help, there is not much I can do. Still, I am keeping the rule that I have to see some of the game, so a return trip to Georgetown is on the cards.
Best,
Sean