Many of the Big Ten coaches expressed concern this week with the recently announced attendance figures.

When approached about the apparent rise in attendance for her sport, Purdue head coach Kristy Curry said, “I’m not at all surprised with the recent popularity, but honestly I think we’ve tabled out. We’re a little bit disappointed. Our goal should be 10,000 [fans] a game, so we’ve got to make some changes and grow.”

The latest unofficial attendance figures compiled by participating schools show that the Big Ten, which in previous years had routinely led the NCAA in average attendance, has now taken a back seat to the Big 12 and its crowds. Purdue, the highest-ranked Big Ten team in the nation attendance-wise at No. 8, is averaging 7,000 fans per game, barely half of what the top teams are drawing. Curry attributed this gap to a sagging fan base.

“It’s like going to church and all the older folks are passing,” Curry said. “You need a youth movement in your church to grow things. Not necessarily a younger crowd, but it’s kind of like having a revival. Young or old, big or small, whoever they are — we need to go out and get some new members.”

When asked if she agreed with Curry’s assessment of recent attendance drops, Penn State’s head coach Rene Portland replied with an overwhelming yes.

“The number one group we’re missing is the students,” Portland said. “We have to do a better job on our campus to get our students out. We certainly do have a wonderful group of people that do support women’s basketball, but there’s still some empty seats, and we need to do a better job of getting people in here.”

Things are not quite as bleak for the Big Ten as they seem. In addition to eighth-ranked Purdue, the conference had teams at ninth, 10th and 12th in the national attendance rankings.

“We’re still very thankful for what we do have,” Purdue’s Curry stated. “I think the growth in the conference has been really, really good, but we want to continue to grow in the future.”

Big Ten tournament looms: With the conference tournament two and a half weeks away, some teams have already started preparing. Indiana head coach Kathi Bennett, for one, had offensive improvement on her mind.

“We definitely need to get better offensively and have some consistency with some players. We really have to work offensively to get some better looks at shots,” Bennett said.

Illinois head coach Theresa Grentz had different ideas for her team as it gets set to head into the tournament. She stressed the importance of mental strength and leadership from her upperclassmen down the stretch.

“I don’t think we’re tired physically; I think people get tired mentally,” stated Grentz. “I think when you do a routine over and over again, you have to be regimented. That’s where your older players understand it much better than your younger ones.”

Second time around: At this point in the season, all of the conference teams have already seen each other at least once, and a few are now getting ready for the second time around. While not every team will get a rematch, there are a few intriguing ones in the coming week.

Second-place Purdue will host fourth-place Michigan State this Thursday and try to avenge the earlier 67-62 upset loss to the Spartans in East Lansing.

Also Thursday, Michigan travels to face Big Ten leader Penn State in an attempt to get even with the Nittany Lions, who escaped from Ann Arbor with a 2-point win earlier in the season.