Story by Cassandra Cousineau Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
The Las Vegas Aces showed why they’re one of the favorites in the WNBA by cruising by the Los Angeles Sparks, 97-69, in the home-opener Friday.
Aces/Raiders owner Mark Davis said the team’s 2,000 season ticketholders would get a refund and be able to attend this season’s home games for free. Davis had a good time tonight as he took selfies with fans and watched the Aces roll to their second win in three games. Las Vegas split their first two games against defending WNBA champion Seattle on the road.
It was festive tonight. The DJ blasted, ‘This Is How We Do It,’ Montel Jordan’s iconic party theme song for Aces fans inside what is now officially called, Michelob Ultra Arena, under a naming rights deal in February.
The court was well lit, and the scent of popcorn and salted snacks permeated the arena on the Strip. Just like that, the WNBA was back in business in Las Vegas.
Limited in size by COVID-19 protocols in Clark County, the enthusiastic crowd was engaged from the opening tip and the players took notice.
“I was excited, we were excited. It was great to have the fans back,” said Aces star forward A’ja Wilson, contributed 17 points in the blowout.
When we ran out, I really had no choice but to just smile. I really missed it. I missed everything about it. We missed everything about it. To have the home crowd behind us, it’s a big, big impact. Just to hear the cheers and the chants, it’s something we missed a lot in the bubble. — Aces’ A’ja Wilson
Las Vegas led, 25-20, after the first quarter and closed out the half with a 56-36 lead powered by Dearica Hamby’s 13 off the bench. If balance was on the bulletin board, the team overachieved. Friday night’s big time win had the team getting it done from both sides of the floor, shooting 53 percent while holding the Sparks to just 35 percent shooting.
The Aces’ last game at The House was Sept. 24, 2019, when the team managed to win just one game in the Western Conference Finals to eventual champions Washington Mystics. The arena also was known as the Mandalay Bay Events Arena at the time, while the team was owned by MGM Resorts International. MGM Resorts sold the team to Davis in January.
Aces coach Bill Laimbeer played his entire roster in the game trusting every player on his bench to contribute valuable minutes.
“The role players really shined tonight and I was happy with that. Our whole team is a work in progress, but I think our potential is showing,” he said.
Here’s Laimbeer’s postgame comments:
It’s been a full 605 days since many of the season ticketholders have seen the team play live.
Davis refunded all 2021 season ticketholders and invited only these season ticketholders to see all 16 home games for free.
Earlier in the month Davis announced the Aces will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the WNBA by starting an alumni association and welcoming a group of former players at each game.
“We will be honoring the alumni, all throughout the season, we’re building an Aces alumni association, and we flew all of them in to be honored,” Davis said.
Andrea Gardner Williams (San Antonio Silver Stars), LaQuanda Barksdale (Silver Stars), Wendy Palmer (Starzz), Adrianne Ross (San Antonio Stars) and Danielle Crockrom Fontenot spoke at halftime.
“We are telling them they will not be forgotten. I’ll tell you, it brought them to tears. It was great. We’ll build some real goodwill, too. I’m in it for the long run.” Davis is patterning an already established tradition he built with his football team, the Raiders.
Aces more than covered the spread as they were a nine-point favorite The team returns to action Sunday at home against the Connecticut Sun at 3PM.
Attendance was 1,972.