LSU women’s basketball’s game vs. South Carolina was most-watched sporting event Thursday night

LSU is at the forefront of the growth in women’s college basketball.

A high-octane matchup between top-10 teams in Baton Rouge on Thursday night unfortunately didn’t go LSU’s way as the Tigers fell 76-70 to South Carolina on their home court.

It was, however, a win for women’s college basketball as a whole.

The game was the most-watched sporting event in America on Thursday night, men’s or women’s, college or professional. The broadcast, which aired on ESPN and was preceded by the hour-long College GameDay show, peaked at 2.1 million viewers and averaged 1.56 million viewers.

Those are pretty unbelievable numbers for any regular-season college basketball game, and it just goes to show how much the sport’s profile is growing.

LSU has been at the forefront of that growth as it set record-setting viewership numbers on route to capturing the national championship during last year’s NCAA tournament.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Tyler to continue the conversation on Twitter: @TylerNettuno