January 2024 Monthly Adventure
To kickoff my 2024 activities for the Monthly Adventures Series, I decided to attend a Texas Women's Basketball home game at the Moody Center as they competed against Kansas. The Longhorns are in their final season in the Big XII before joining the SEC next season, so this likely is the last time the team will face Kansas for a while. One thing that you may not know about me (unless you've been keeping up with some combination of my blog, monthly newsletter, and Instagram) is that I am a HUGE fan of basketball. It's the first sport I ever played as a kid and it holds a special place in my heart. It had been at least a few years since I last attended a Texas Women's Basketball game, so I was excited to take some time to go this month! Here's a recap of my experience:
Tickets
Tickets can be purchased online for single games, season tickets, or ticket package deals. Single game tickets are about $15 each, which is a great price! Depending on the section where you choose your seats, you may even get access to the corporate-sponsored clubs associated with certain sections of the arena. These clubs have casual seating and a full bar. I could go on about the details of the Moody Center forever, but the best thing to do is read my blog post about the Moody Center Venue Tour that I had the opportunity to take last summer!
Parking
The primary parking garage is Trinity Garage and parking will cost about $10. The walk is roughly 3-5 minutes to the Moody Center from the garage. You can also use rideshare to get dropped off or picked up on the east side of the venue along I-35. The Manor Garage is closest to the Moody Center, but parking in that garage tends to be reserved for special donors.
Pre-Game Activities
Texas Women's Basketball games are super family-friendly if you're looking for something to do with all your loved ones. Prior to the start of the game, there are Texas Longhorns branded inflatable basketball "courts" and other fun bounce house-style activities for kids to enjoy outside on the plaza. For the adults, the Moody Center has happy hour pricing from the time doors open until the start of the National Anthem.
Entry and Bag Policy
Like many other venues in the United States, all you need to enter the building is your smartphone. You can save your digital tickets to your phone's wallet which will be scanned as you walk in the door. Just prior to getting to the door, security will search bags. The Moody Center has a clear bag policy, so be sure that you have a bag that meets their specifications before you arrive.
Going Cashless & Concessions
Payment for concessions at the Moody Center will be easiest if you just go cashless at this venue. You can use Apple Pay, Google Pay, and debit or credit card to complete transactions. With the way you pay for things around the arena, you actually won't be interacting with cashiers much at all and you will scan and pay for items you decide to purchase.
There are several great food options for pretty much any diet and some places may be a bit tucked away, but do keep in mind that this is still a basketball arena and concert venue -- food and drink prices will be marked up. For this game, I wanted to go with a lighter meal and food that I considered to be reliable, opting for some chicken bites and fries from Shaq's Big Chicken concession stand right by the main entrance of the Moody Center. My food was about $16 in total ad I didn't get a drink which probably would've brought the total closer to $20 if I had. I was surprised by the fries because they are basically flattened steak fries. They were good, but they do get cold rather quickly. As for the chicken bites, they're not exactly like the popcorn chicken on the menu from the main restaurant and are more like scraps of chicken that were breaded and fried. However, they had great flavor compared to the usual chicken from your average concession stands and it wasn't really dry either. I got barbeque sauce to go with them, but the sauce wasn't very good and I ended up eating them plain because they tasted just fine without the sauce. I'd say that given the price, it was a decent amount of food. They prepare and set out food under a heat lamp, so I think the meal would've been even better had it been fresh out the fryer.
Watching Texas Women's Basketball
All season, the Longhorns have been doing a great job of taking control of games very early and maintaining that control until the game is over. This night was no different! After some fireworks and the hype video to lead into player introductions, the Longhorns tipped-off their game against Kansas. While they didn't score the first points of the game, that did not matter. Once the Longhorns began scoring, they simply couldn't be stopped. They were making incredible offensive and defensive plays all game and their shot selection was as good as you could ask of any team.
Even when up by nearly 40 points, they were hustling and playing hard until the very end of the fourth quarter which resulted in a 91-56 win over Kansas. The team's head coach, Vic Schaefer, was also very focused on the game and coached the entire time. He didn't care about the fact that the team was up by so many points. He wants his team to play like they are always in a close matchup. Now that's how you make a team ready for a run in the NCAA Tournament! If you haven't been to a Texas Women's Basketball game before or if you just love to watch basketball and like to get into the X's and O's, please take some time to go watch this Longhorns team!
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