Caitlin Clark's first season finale is most-attended WNBA game of all time, capping off historic season

The Washington Mystics utilized their scheduled play finale against the Indiana Fever to propulsion disconnected a stunt that yielded grounds attendance, contempt being 1 of the worst teams successful the league this year. 

With Caitlin Clark and the Fever finishing the play successful Washington D.C. connected Thursday, the Mystics made the advantageous selling determination of moving the crippled to a larger venue. They moved it to Capital One Arena, location to the NBA's Washington Wizards. 

Washington typically plays successful the The Entertainment and Sports Arena, which is located Congress Heights, a residential vicinity successful southeast Washington, D.C. It has a capableness of lone 4,200. 

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But Capital One Arena, located successful the Chinatown conception of the larger Penn Quarter of the city, has a maximum capableness of 20,356 for hoops games. 

The Mystics had nary occupation filling those seats with Clark successful town, contempt having conscionable 13 wins going into the game. 

The 20,711 fans that showed up connected Thursday represented a caller grounds for the highest-attended WNBA regular-season contest. The grounds broke the erstwhile regular-season grounds of 20,674, which was reached 4 times by Washington during the 1998 and 1999 seasons. 

The champion portion astir it for the Mystics was that the fans determination got to ticker the location squad propulsion of the triumph implicit Clark's Fever 92-91

The Las Vegas Aces pulled disconnected a akin determination erstwhile they hosted the Fever astatine the larger T-Mobile Arena for a July 2 crippled alternatively of playing successful the comparatively smaller Michelob ULTRA Arena. For that game, 20,366 fans showed up, which represented the highest regular-season single-game attendance since 1999.

However, it astir didn't hap for the Mystics. Clark came conscionable 1 method foul shy of earning a one-game suspension this year. In the Fevers' most-recent crippled against the Dallas Wings, Clark was astir to prime up her seventh method foul of the season, which would person meant a one-game suspension for the rookie. 

During the game, Clark was walking up the level aft a turnover. She looked up astatine the replay and instantly started to rima disconnected to the referee. Kelsey Mitchell stuck retired her limb to forestall Clark from heading implicit to the ref, portion Aliyah Boston pulled Clark distant and yelled, "No," to support her from getting a method foul.

By avoiding a seventh method foul, Clark was escaped to bring a frenzy of fans to ticker her play successful Washington connected Thursday night.

Clark's record-attended play finale is simply a fitting extremity to a historical play wherever the rookie seemed to interruption truthful galore different records. 

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Indiana Fever defender Caitlin Clark (22) reaches for the shot during a crippled against the Dallas Wings astatine Gainbridge Fieldhouse successful Indianapolis. (Grace Hollars / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Clark's show connected Thursday gave her the grounds for astir points by a constituent defender successful a azygous play successful WNBA history. Clark already clinched the grounds for astir points by a rookie and the league's single-season assistance record. 

As the single-season grounds holder and league-leader successful assists this year, Clark is the youngest subordinate to ever pb the league successful assists. 

Clark besides led the league successful 3-pointers this year, and had the 2nd astir of each clip successful a azygous play with 122. 

On apical of that, she broke the grounds for astir All-Star votes for immoderate subordinate successful WNBA history, and became the archetypal rookie to ever grounds a triple-double. 

The attraction and show that Clark has fixed the Fever has thrust the squad into the playoffs for the archetypal clip successful 8 years, arsenic 1 of the astir fashionable teams successful the league. The 14 most-watched WNBA games this twelvemonth each included the Fever. 

Two of Clark's teammates spoke retired astir however antithetic it is playing with Clark this year, for the team's vibe and visibility. 

Point defender Kelsey Mitchell told reporters up of Thursday's crippled she didn't deliberation the nationalist would cognize overmuch astir her if not for Clark, adding she was utilized to a much introverted attack to her job. 

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Dallas Wings defender Jacy Sheldon (4) defends Indiana Fever defender Caitlin Clark (22) successful the archetypal fractional of a WNBA hoops crippled successful Indianapolis, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

"I deliberation the world of it is that I don't deliberation radical would cognize without "C squared" (Clark's nickname), truthful outcry retired to Caitlin!" Mitchell said erstwhile asked astir getting much attraction and fans this season. 

"She's done an unbelievable occupation of bringing her ain fans and radical that enactment her, but, for me, I kinda laughter astatine it and I clasp it astatine the aforesaid clip due to the fact that I ever flew nether the radar. I've ever benignant of been that idiosyncratic that is precise conservative, precise introvert, truthful present I get to spot the flip broadside of it. 

Meanwhile, Shooting defender Erica Wheeler told reporters that Clark's beingness this play has resulted successful the squad needing to beryllium much resilient to scrutiny. 

"All we bash is person amusive with Caitlin Clark, who ne'er takes thing seriously," Wheeler said. "I archer radical each the clip she’s truly a kid astatine heart. … There’s moments wherever we request to beryllium serious, and we are serious, but a bulk of the time, we’re having fun. Because you gotta understand, the extracurricular satellite was truly trying to get wrong this building. We conscionable didn’t fto it.

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