Women's Basketball at Bud Walton Arena

At $35 million, Bud Walton Arena was the basketball showcase of mid-America in 1993. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Walton underwent a multi-million dollar renovation highlighted by a new scoring system with full video displays to keep the arena the finest in the Southeastern Conference.

Designed to replicate the intimate and intimidating atmosphere of Barnhill Arena, but accommodate the overwhelming demand for basketball tickets at Arkansas, the result was a fan-friendly 19,200-seat arena whose acoustics focus the roar of the Razorback fans to the floor. Among the other features are 35 private skyboxes, a lower-level capacity of 12,250 and the furthest seat closer in Walton than the worst seat in 9,000-seat Barnhill.

Arkansas hosted the 1994 NCAA Midwest Regional during Walton Arena’s inaugural season. In 1995, the Lady Razorbacks hosted all four rounds of the Preseason Women’s NIT — thanks in large part to the excellent accommodations provided by Bud Walton Arena. It all paled in comparison to the 1999 Women’s NIT as Arkansas hosted all five rounds of the postseason event, including an all-time UA and then WNIT record 14,163 fans for the championship game versus Wisconsin. The 1999 WNIT semifinals and finals alone saw over 23,000 fans attend the two games, helping the Lady’Backs to a new all-time attendance re

cord of 77,001 total fans. Arkansas also hosted four rounds of the 2000 WNIT at Walton.