Key Arena seating chart
Nov. 9, 2005
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -
First, there was the Battle of Seattle on the gridiron.
Now there's Showdown in the Sound, presented by Comcast, on the hardwood.
Longtime rivals Western Washington University and Central Washington University will face each other in a women's and men's basketball doubleheader at Key Arena on Sat., Dec. 17. The women tip off at 5 p.m., with the men to follow at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets go on sale to the general public Mon., Nov. 14. Front row courtside seats are $75, courtside seats are $50, with each having exclusive access to the Fox Sports Network HD Lounge. Lower bowl tickets are $30 on the sidelines and $20 behind the end lines in the student sections. Upper bowl tickets are $10.
The "Showdown in the Sound" is a follow-up to the successful "Battle in Seattle" football game at Qwest Field between the two schools, which has been played the last three years. The first Battle in Seattle in 2003 drew 16,392, the largest crowd ever to see a non-NCAA Division I collegiate sporting event in the state of Washington.
"The Battle in Seattle has been a tremendous asset to our football programs," said Western director of athletics Lynda Goodrich. "We want to build on that success with the first Showdown in the Sound. The basketball rivalry between Western and Central is a great one in which sellout crowds are the norm. Bringing it to Key Arena is an outstanding opportunity to allow more people to see these two great programs in action."
The two schools, who will also meet home-and-home as part of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule, have played 228 times in men's basketball, with the first meeting in 1908. Western and Central have met 77 times since 1972 in women's basketball.
The Viking men's team returns all five starters from a 22-7 squad that hosted the West Regional of the NCAA Division II National Tournament, reaching the regional semifinals, and are ranked No.2 and No.5, respectively, in Street and Smith's and Division II Bulletin national preseason ratings. The Western women's team returns four starters from a 24-5 squad that also reached the West Regional semifinals, and ranks No.14 nationally in both the Division II Bulletin and Women's Basketball Coaches Association preseason ratings.
Tickets can be purchased without a service charge through the WWU Box Office at (360) 650-BLUE (2583). Tickets are also available from the Key Arena Box Office and ticketmaster.com.
