Another day, another WNBA milestone involving Caitlin Clark.
On the same night the Fever rookie was named to the WNBA All-Star team, the 22-year-old helped draw the largest attendance for a WNBA regular-season game in 25 years, as 20,366 people turned out for Indiana’s game against the two-time defending champion Aces in Las Vegas Tuesday night.
A Washington Mystics-Cleveland Rockers regular-season game on July 21, 1999, drew 20,674.
The Phoenix Mercury and Detroit Shock drew 22,067 fans for Game 5 of the 2007 WNBA Finals in Detroit.
The Aces normally play games at the 12,000-seat Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay but moved the game to T-Mobile Arena, home of the NHL’s Golden Knights, due to ticket demand.
The only other WNBA game this season to draw at least 20,000 fans also involved Clark and the Fever, who played in front of 20,333 on June 7 in Washington.
Indiana maxes out at 17,274 for its games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Fever (8-13) hung tough for three quarters, but the Aces (11-6) dominated in the fourth to take an 88-69 victory.
Clark struggled with her shot, scoring 13 points on 4-for-12 from the field while hitting just 1 of 7 3-pointers, adding 11 assists and six rebounds.
Aces star Kelsey Plum, who is on the Olympic team that will face the WNBA All-Stars on July 20, had a game-high 34 points with six rebounds and five assists, and her teammate, fellow Olympian A’ja Wilson, had 28 points and nine rebounds.
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