Editing Williams Arena (section)

==History==
When the Gophers basketball team first organized, they played games in the on-campus [[YMCA]]. In 1896, the team moved into the campus [[University of Minnesota Armory|Armory]], a large building with gymnasium space for the team to use, even if basketball was not its primary purpose.<ref name="Hugunin">Hugunin, Marc and [[Stew Thornley]]. ''Minnesota Hoops: Basketball in the North Star State.'' St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2006.</ref>{{rp|6}} The Gophers remained in the Armory for almost 30 years. Halfway through the 1924–25 season, coach [[Harold Taylor (basketball coach)|Harold Taylor]] moved the team from the University Armory to the [[Kenwood Armory]] in [[downtown Minneapolis]].<ref name="Hugunin" />{{rp|50}} This significantly increased the attendance: capacity at the University Armory was 2,000, but it was 6,500 at Kenwood. The team only played at Kenwood for a few seasons, however, as the University of Minnesota Field House (later known as Williams Arena) opened partway through the 1927–1928 season. The team moved in on January 31, 1928.<ref name="Hugunin" />{{rp|50}}[[File:Williams arena ent.JPG|thumb|left|200px|The entrance]]
Initially known as the Minnesota Field House (a name now used for a different building), Williams Arena opened in 1928. The original construction of the arena cost $650,000.<ref>{{cite web |title=Williams Arena Tickets|url=http://www.perfecttix.com/Page.aspx?PageID=2651|publisher=PerfectTix|access-date=November 11, 2013}}</ref> The arena was remodeled in 1950, and renamed Williams Arena after [[Henry L. Williams]], the football coach from 1900 to 1921.

As part of the 1950 renovation, it was divided into two separate arenas within one building: a larger one for basketball and a smaller one for hockey. Both arenas were called Williams Arena until March 2, 1985, when the hockey section was renamed Mariucci Arena after longtime Gopher hockey coach [[John Mariucci]]. The hockey team moved into a new building across the street from Williams in 1993, also named [[Mariucci Arena]]. The old Mariucci Arena within Williams was remodeled into the Sports Pavilion, now the Maturi Pavilion, named for former University of Minnesota athletic director [[Joel Maturi]] in August 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gophersports.com/sports/2018/5/21/facilities-maturi-pavilion-html.aspx|title=Maturi Pavilion|access-date=December 17, 2018|publisher=University of Minnesota Athletics}}</ref> which houses the volleyball, wrestling, and gymnastic teams.

The venue hosted the [[1951 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament]] championship game and the [[1964 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament]] Mideast Regional. Williams Arena has hosted the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA women's basketball tournament in 2005, 2007, and 2010. The hockey portion of Williams hosted the [[Frozen Four]] in 1958 and 1966. The [[Minnesota Lynx]] played all of their 2017 postseason home games at Williams Arena, ultimately winning the franchise's fourth [[WNBA]] championship in the building.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lynx to play postseason home games at Williams Arena|author=Frederick, Jace|date=July 27, 2017|access-date=August 27, 2017|url=http://www.twincities.com/2017/07/27/lynx-to-play-postseason-home-games-at-williams-arena/|newspaper=Pioneer Press|publisher=Digital First}}</ref>

Williams Arena was used for the filming of scenes in the 1978 film, ''[[Ice Castles]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ice Castles (1978) Filming Locations|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077716/locations?ref_=tt_dt_dt|publisher=[[Internet Movie Database]]|access-date=November 11, 2013}}</ref>