The fervor around Caitlin Clark and women's basketball is not calming down in the United States, far from it. For the second time this season, 20,000 spectators attended a WNBA game.
The Las Vegas Aces, who usually play in a 12,000-seat arena, moved to T-Mobile Arena to host the Indiana Fever. The result? 20,366 fans were on hand to watch last night's Aces-Fever duel, the first time a regular-season game has been played since 1999.
“Honestly, it was probably one of the best games we’ve had from an energy standpoint,” Caitlin Clark believes. “The amount of people here just watching the warmups, I feel like that's when I can kind of get a sense of the quality of the crowd or how excited they are for the game.”
Las Vegas Aces room sold out
However, the Fever fell to the two-time defending champions, 88-69. Kelsey Plum's 34 points hurt All-Star Caitlin Clark's teammates, as did A'ja Wilson's 28 points.
“Obviously they're always excited, but tonight it was very different,” adds the Fever player, limited on her side to 13 points (4/12 shooting including 1/7 from afar) and 11 assists. “There were just groups of fans watching us warm up. It was super cool to be a part of that. I hope everyone enjoyed it. And also, I hope everyone saw how strong the Aces are.”
The Aces who were already showing the best average attendance Last season's momentum continues. Becky Hammon's players gathered 20,000 spectators for the first time in their history and will play in their already sold-out stadium for the rest of the season.
“There were several times when the building looked like it was going to erupt.”says the coach. “There’s a lot of eyes on us now. But Vegas has been supporting us for a few years, so I’m not surprised. It was pretty loud in there. The more fans, the better, no matter who you come to see.”
