Let's represent the number of men as $x$.
According to the given information, the number of women is 8 times the number of men. So, the number of women can be expressed as $8x$.
The total number of students is the sum of the number of men and the number of women. Therefore, we can write the equation:
$Number \ of \ Men + Number \ of \ Women = Total \ Number \ of \ Students$
$x + 8x = 162$
Combining like terms, we get:
$9x = 162$
To solve for $x$, we divide both sides of the equation by 9:
$\frac{9x}{9} = \frac{162}{9}$
Simplifying, we find:
$x = \frac{162}{9} = 18$
Therefore, there are 18 men in the basic mathematics course.
To find the number of women, we substitute the value of $x$ back into the equation:
$Number \ of \ Women = 8x = 8(18) = 144$
Answer: There are 144 women in the basic mathematics course.