It was a busy opening weekend for the WNBA with record-breaking performances and ratings as the league’s stars shined.
Saturday’s game between Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky and Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever drew an average of 2.7 million viewers, which made it the most-watched WNBA game on ESPN platforms. Clark posted a triple-double while Reese had 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting and 17 rebounds in the Sky’s 35-point loss.
The pair also had a moment on the court when Clark had a hard foul on Reese while she was going for a layup. Officials ended up upgrading the foul to a flagrant 1. Both players said after the game it was just a basketball play.
A day after the game, the league said it was looking into racial slurs made toward Reese by fans. A person familiar with the situation confirmed the details to The Associated Press on Sunday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the league had not publicly identified the subject of the taunts or who made the allegations.
The Fever said it would do what it could to help the league.
“I told the team, obviously, we’re going to cooperate fully with the investigation,” Fever coach Stephanie White said Monday. “But there’s no place for that in our league, whether it’s at home, whether it’s on the road. It doesn’t matter. We want to encourage our players, our staff to bring recognition to it in real time if it’s heard, if it’s seen or anything of that nature.”
The teams will meet again June 7 at the United Center.
It wasn’t just the Sky-Fever game that drew strong numbers. The opener Saturday between the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty had an average of 1.3 million viewers. Reigning MVP A’ja Wilson had a stellar performance in the Aces loss. Last season’s runner-up for MVP also had a strong opening weekend as Napheesa Collier led the Minnesota Lynx to two victories.
While the Sky, Fever, Aces, Liberty and Lynx were expected to be in the WNBA spotlight this season, not much was expected of the Washington Mystics with a new coach, new general manager and a host of new players, led by rookies Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen.
The Mystics won their first two games and now head out for a three-game West Coast trip to Golden State, Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Sidelined
Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper underwent an arthroscopy on her left knee last week and will be out four to six weeks, the team announced. Copper is in her ninth season and was the WNBA’s No. 3 scorer last year, averaging 21.1 points in her first season in Phoenix.
Power poll rankings
The Lynx and Liberty led the way in the first regular-season AP power poll, tied at No. 1. The national voting panel chose the Fever third and Mercury fourth. The Aces, Mystics and Los Angeles Sparks were the next three. The Seattle Storm, Atlanta Dream and Dallas Wings followed. The Sky, Connecticut Sun and Golden State Valkyries rounded out the rankings.
Player of the week
Collier had a strong opening weekend, averaging 28.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists to help the Lynx win their first two games, both on the road. Other players receiving consideration included Clark, Natasha Cloud of the Liberty, Kelsey Plum of the Sparks and Brittney Sykes of the Mystics.
Game of the week
Liberty at Fever, noon Saturday (CBS-2)
The defending champion Liberty will visit Clark and the new-look Fever. Indiana made a ton of offseason moves to bolster its roster, including signing DeWanna Bonner and Natasha Howard. It will be a chance for the Fever to see where they stack up against one of the best teams in the league early in the season.
