LAS VEGAS — A’ja Wilson stepped to the free-throw line, and instead of a hush falling over her home crowd, the Aces faithful got louder, and louder, and louder.

“MVP! MVP! MVP!” they chanted.

The crowd didn’t stop until both of her attempts fell through the hoop.

Wilson, who accepted her MVP trophy prior to tipoff, went to the free-throw line 14 times during her team’s 67-64 victory over the Connecticut Sun in the opening game of the WNBA Finals. And every time, the crowd at Michelob Ultra Arena met her with the same three letters over and over again.

Wilson went 12-of-14 from the line, her free throws making up 50 percent of her game-high 24 points.

While the Aces superstar makes highlight-level plays regularly look easy, her efficiency adds further credence to her MVP selection. Wilson has proved her worth on defense, on offense, and now, on the season’s biggest stage, at the free-throw line.

The 14 attempts were her second most this season — Wilson had 15 against the Liberty on July 6 — and her ability to knock down free throws was the X-factor in Las Vegas’ win.

“The big stat line difference tonight was their ability to get to the foul line and play through contact,” Connecticut coach Curt Miller said.

The M'VP showed up and showed out in Game 1 of the #WNBAFinals

24 PTS // 11 REB // 4 BLK // 2 STL // 54.5% FG@_ajawilson22 // #RaiseTheStakes pic.twitter.com/F7ewUFNCTe

— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) September 11, 2022

After the Sun eliminated the defending champion Chicago Sky in the semifinals to earn a spot in the championship series against the Aces, Miller applauded his post players. He wanted it put on the record that Jonquel Jones, Brionna Jones and Alyssa Thomas had knocked Candace Parker out of the playoffs in three of the last four years.

Parker responded by saying that the Sky hang championship banners, not conference banners, alluding to the fact that her team has won a title and the Sun have not.

Drama of the statement aside, the Sun’s post trio did hold Parker to just seven points in the decisive game, which speaks to their strength and toughness.

But against Wilson, when they tried to assert their will in a similar fashion, she answered with strength and toughness of her own.

“I think she can score the ball, ultimately. She’s able to score at different levels,” Jonquel Jones said. “I think that’s a tough challenge. She’s attacking the rim really aggressively right now, so it’s tough.”

Wilson made four of her six field goals in the first quarter as the Aces outscored Connecticut 25-15. From there, the Sun found their rhythm, using their disruptive style of defense to force Las Vegas into mistakes and missed shots. By halftime, Connecticut had gone on a 21-9 run to take a 38-34 lead into the third quarter.

Coach Becky Hammon let her team have it. The coach’s speech, Chelsea Gray said, isn’t appropriate for sharing with the masses, but whatever Hammon said, it did the trick.

“We ramped up our physicality,” Hammon said. “It felt like we had to get punched in the face before we reacted, and then once — you know, you can take a little stinger, and then all of a sudden, have your attention, and they woke up.”

In the third quarter, that’s exactly what the Aces did.

Instead of the Sun getting their way against Las Vegas’ post players, Wilson pushed them around. Her ability to battle in the paint gave the Sun fits defensively, and they weren’t able to stop her without fouling.

Wilson scored 10 of her 24 points in the third frame, with all but two coming at the free-throw line, where she went a perfect 8-for-8.

Then, with 6:38 left in the fourth quarter, Wilson had perhaps the most important sequence of the contest.

The Aces had reclaimed the lead, 57-55, when DeWanna Bonner drove into the paint. Wilson rose up and blocked the shot. She grabbed the rebound, passed the ball to Dearica Hamby and sprinted up the court, catching a pass from Hamby and finishing at the other end.

The play ignited the Aces crowd, as Wilson screamed in celebration, forcing Connecticut to call a timeout.

This pass. This Finish. This Duo. 🤌@_ajawilson22 // @dearicamarie #RaiseTheStakes pic.twitter.com/NnyxvSmbKg

— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) September 11, 2022

It was the final momentum push the Aces needed, and they rode the energy to a 3-pointer from Kelsey Plum, a Gray stepback make, a Jackie Young jumper, and a free throw from Plum to close out the game.

Gray finished with 21 points and Young added 11.

But throughout the contest, it was the toughness of the MVP that led the Aces to victory.

“She’s got beast skills,” Hammon said. “She’s a beast human. She’s a good one. I’ll go to battle with her any day.”

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.

For the first time in history, three different WNBA teams have completely sold out of season ticket plans well before the league's May 14th kick-off.

Call it the Caitlin Clark effect, attribute it to this year’s tenacious rookie class, or look to the skyrocketing visibility of veteran players across the board. But no matter the cause, facts are facts: Tickets to the 2024 WNBA season are selling like never before. 

On Monday, the Dallas Wings became the third team to sell out of season ticket memberships in the league’s 27-year history. The announcement from Arlington came shortly after the Atlanta Dream issued their own season ticket sell-out statement, also on Monday, and almost seven weeks after the back-to-back WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces made headlines by becoming the first-ever WNBA team to sell out their season ticket allotment.   

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According to the Wings, season ticket memberships will fill nearly 40% of the 6,251 seats inside their home arena, College Park Center. The club also said that their overall ticket revenue has ballooned to the tune of 220% this year, spanning not just season tickets but also a 1,200% increase in single ticket sales. There’s currently a waitlist to become a Dallas season ticket holder, a status that comes with extra incentives like playoff presale access and discounts on additional single-game tickets. 

In Atlanta, season tickets aren't the only thing flying off the shelves. The Dream also announced that they broke their own record for single-game ticket sales during a recent limited presale campaign. Sunday was reportedly their most lucrative day, with five different games totally selling out Gateway Center Arena. Individual tickets for all upcoming matchups will hit the market this Thursday at 8 a.m., while a waitlist for season ticket memberships will open up next Tuesday at 10 a.m.

"Excitement around women's sports, particularly basketball, is at an all-time high and nowhere is that felt more than here in Atlanta," Dream president and COO Morgan Shaw Parker said in the team’s statement. "We’ve continued a record-setting growth trajectory over the past three years under new ownership — both on and off the court — and 2024 is shaping up to be our best season yet."

As of Tuesday, season ticket sales revenue for Caitlin Clark’s hotly anticipated Indiana Fever debut haven’t yet been announced by the club. But if these numbers are any indication — not to mention the explosive demand for Fever away games felt by teams around the country — it won’t be long before we see some scale-tipping figures coming out of Indianapolis.

25-year-old American pro golfer Nelly Korda secured her spot in LPGA history on Sunday, notching her fifth-straight title at this weekend's Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas.

Ranked No. 1 in the world by Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sörenstam (2005) as just the third LPGA player to rack up five consecutive tour wins. She is also the third No. 1-ranked player to capture The Chevron Championship victory since the rankings debuted in 2006, accompanied by Lorena Ochoa and Lydia Ko.

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The Florida native shot three-under 69 in Sunday's final, besting Sweden's Maja Stark despite Stark's valiant come-from-behind attempt in the 18th. Korda finished with a four-day total of 13-under 275, celebrating her two-stroke win by cannonballing into Poppie's Pond, much to the crowd's delight. She left The Club at Carlton Woods with $1.2 million from an overall purse of $7.9 million.

It wasn't long ago that the two-time major champion's current winning streak seemed unimaginable. After maintaining her No. 1 position for 29 weeks, Korda underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from her left arm in 2022. She returned to the course not long after, but failed to win a single tournament in 2023 before seeing a surge in form during the first four months of 2024. As of today, she hasn't lost a tournament since January.

Korda will attempt a record sixth-straight win at next week's JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, where she'll vie for a cut of the $3.75 million purse.