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WNBA Makes Key Decision on Next Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark Matchup
Apr 5, 2024; Cleveland, OH, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark (22) and Connecticut Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) react in the second quarter in the semifinals of the Final Four of the womens 2024 NCAA Tournament at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Former UConn Huskies great Paige Bueckers has been taking the WNBA by storm amid her Dallas Wings' team struggles. She is an early front runner for Rookie of the Year and was recently announced as a starter in her first WNBA All-Star appearance. She has drawn a lot of comparrisons to last year's Rookie of the Year winner, Caitlin Clark, who plays for the Indiana Fever and will be an All-Star captain this year.

The comparisons have gone as far as comparing the two young stars to Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

The Wings and Fever have met once this season, in late June, but Clark was sidelined due to an injury, so Bueckers and Clark have yet to face each other professionally. The teams are slated to meet once more on July 13th in Indiana with Clark's availability currently in question due to another injury.

For their third meeting of the season, that will happen in Dallas on August 1st, the WNBA made a recent change. With both stars expected to be available, the game has been moved to American Airlines Arena, home of the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA.

College Park Center, where the Wings currently play, holds 7,000 fans while American Airlines Arena holds 20,000.

In a statement on their team website, the Wings stated, "The Wings and Fever played in front of a crowd of 20,409 on June 27 at AAC, not only establishing a franchise regular-season record, but becoming just the eighth regular-season game in WNBA history to be played in front of 20,000 fans, and 10th overall including postseason. The Wings became just the fourth team in WNBA history to host a game which drew more than 20,000 fans, joining the Washington Mystics, Las Vegas Aces and Detroit Shock."

The first Wings-Fever matchup on June 27th aired nationally on ION and drew 1.14 million viewers, the most-watched WNBA game on ION this season and the seventh most watched ever on the network.

The Wings, Fever, and WNBA are all preparing for yet another record breaking night in August when Bueckers and Clark clash.

If you were already preparing to watch the August 1st game, the Wings stated, "Fans who have already purchased tickets to Wings-Fever on Aug. 1 when it was scheduled for College Park Center will be refunded via AXS. Wings Season Ticket Members and those who purchased group tickets through the Dallas Wings Ticket Office will have their tickets relocated to a comparable location at American Airlines Center. Tickets will go on sale via Ticketmaster for the American Airlines Center game on Friday, July 11 at 10 a.m. CT."


This article first appeared on UConn Huskies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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