LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas is known for its gaudy casinos, lavish shows and over-the-top atmosphere.

One of the most-visited cities in the world, the Nevada hotspot offers a prime attraction for tourists: The bustling Strip, which features more than 30 casinos, including Mandalay Bay.

Inside the resort and casino, past a nightclub, restaurants, poker tables and the vibrant lights of ringing slot machines, is Michelob Ultra Arena – home of the Las Vegas Aces.

The House is ready for Game 2 of the #WNBAFinals😍🤩#RaiseTheStakes pic.twitter.com/f5FKaa6icm

— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) September 12, 2022

With their up-tempo style of play and high-octane offense, the Aces reflect the city they call home. With a WNBA-high 90.4 points per game, the Aces spend four months of the year bringing another brand of flashy excitement to the Strip.

When they leave the court, though, Sin City’s basketball team retreats to a much quieter way of life.

“If I’m relaxing on a day off, I’m probably not leaving the apartment,” Sydney Colson said with a laugh.

If she does venture out, Colson usually spends her free time shopping or going to see a movie – but it has to be something worth seeing on the big screen to get her to journey to a theater.

“I want to go see the new Jordan Peele movie ‘Nope,’ and ‘The Woman King’ with Viola Davis,” Colson said. “Action-type stuff, I want to see on the big screen.”

Kelsey Plum is another player who knows the comforts of home well. She missed the 2020 season with a torn Achilles, and that coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic kept her indoors.

Now, Plum is taking advantage of her health – both on the court and off. But like Colson, she keeps things relaxed.

For locals, Las Vegas is entirely different than it is for tourists. 

“All the people who come here stay on the Strip, and that’s great, but I haven’t been on the Strip in years,” Plum said. “I mean, I play here, but I don’t really stay here. So, (if you live in Vegas), it’s chill. There’s a great energy, and a lot of cool people here.”

When she has the time, Plum likes to explore the city via food. Trying out restaurants off the beaten path is her favorite thing to do in Las Vegas.

“I recently went to this place called Thai Curry, and it was really good,” she said. “It was in a strip-mall type place. I got pad Thai and curry, and it was awesome.”

🤓 pic.twitter.com/fwdPYVuEiW

— Aisha Sheppard (@____blessed2) June 8, 2022

Rookie Aisha Sheppard is new to the WNBA and to Las Vegas. She still likes to venture out to the more crowded parts of town, mostly to indulge in her favorite hobby – shopping.

The rookie didn’t get to experiment much with fashion in college, so now she loves the art of a tunnel fit.

“My style is very versatile,” she said. “I have a couple of different signature pieces, but then I can also go to H&M and just wear a regular outfit and I can still make it my own.”

Her favorite purchase to date is a pair of Off-White sunglasses. The glasses were a splurge, which Sheppard said she doesn’t normally do. And though she’s explored places like Caesars Palace to look in shops, walking the Strip is also something the rookie doesn’t do. 

Instead, like Colson and Plum, she prefers to hang out in the more relaxing parts of the city.

“It’s kind of the calm before the storm, and the calm is everywhere outside of the Strip, or downtown,” she said. “And then in the Strip then you’ll run into a little bit of that chaos.”

Being a resident, Jackie Young said, is like “not even living in Vegas.” At least not in the stereotypical Sin City style.

The craziest place Young goes? TopGolf.

It’s one of her favorite activities to do in the city, and while she won’t go as far as to say she’s good at it, Young said she can get some distance on the ball when she swings.

TopGolf is an activity the Aces sometimes do together. Young couldn’t pinpoint the best player on the team, but she was quick to call out her least-skilled teammate.

“A’ja is the worst,” she said with a smile.

Wilson is good at a lot of things – and she has brand new Defensive Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player trophies to prove it – but the Aces star admitted that her talents do not extend to TopGolf.

“That is a true statement,” Wilson said with a laugh. “I am in last place when it comes to TopGolf. It is not my thing.”

Vegas, though — Vegas is her thing.

This is Wilson’s fifth year in the WNBA, and all of those have been spent with the Aces. She has great affection for both her team and for the city in which she plays.

“My favorite thing about living in Vegas is there’s always something to do,” she said. “But yet if you don’t want to do something, you don’t have to do anything. You can still chill. You can go out by the pool, you could just stay in your house and go or just people watch. I think that’s the beautiful thing.

“I love living in Las Vegas.”

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

Cameron Brink already has her rookie of the year pick for the upcoming WNBA season, and it’s Indiana-bound star Caitlin Clark. 

In the latest edition of Kelley on the Street, host Kelley O'Hara caught up with Brink in New York hours before the Stanford phenom went No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks at the 2024 WNBA Draft. When O’Hara asked who would win the WNBA's rookie of the year, she answered without pause.

"Caitlin Clark," she said, while a fan commented that she thought Brink would take home the award. Brink later added that the extra foul granted to WNBA players will be "good for me."

"I hope it’s me," Charisma Osborne, who was later drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, said when asked her ROY prediction. "But, I don’t know — we’ll see."

Watch more of Kelley on the Street:

Maria Sanchez issued a statement on Thursday, confirming recent reports that she has requested a trade from the Houston Dash. 

In it, she revealed that the club has been aware of the request "since late March."

"This has all taken a toll and isn’t an easy thing to talk about, but I want to confirm that I’ve requested an immediate trade," she wrote. "My expectations and reasons have been clear. I trust that my current club’s management will honor my decision in a timely manner and proceed with accepting a trade."

"I’m eager to refocus and dive back into what I love most: playing football," she concluded.

Thank you, everyone, for the outpouring of kindness and support. pic.twitter.com/gcnN7dhCJU

— Maria Sanchez (@Maria17_7) April 19, 2024

Reports of Sanchez's trade request first surfaced on ESPN last week, and were later confirmed by multiple sources. 

In December of last year, Sanchez signed a three-year contract with the Dash valued at $1.5 million including bonuses and an option year. It was the largest contract in NWSL history at the time — a figure that would be eclipsed by multiple contracts in the following months. 

Sanchez spent the offseason as a restricted free agent, meaning that Houston could match any other team's offer to retain her rights. Should the Dash trade Sanchez, her current contract terms would remain intact, limiting potential buyers to teams able to afford to take on an inking of that size.

The Dash has yet to address the trade, instead reiterating to ESPN that Sanchez is "under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023." 

Both the NWSL trade window and transfer window close tonight, April 19th, at 12 a.m. ET. The window will stay closed through the next 11 regular season games, reopening on August 1st, 2024.

The four-time league champion Seattle Storm unveiled their new practice facility on Thursday, with Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel dubbing Interbay's Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance the team’s "new home."

"It's just such a special space," Brummel told Fox 13 Seattle. "I think when the players get here, it's gonna be overwhelming."

The sprawling 50,000-square-foot, $64 million property is just the second designated practice facility to be designed and built expressly for a WNBA team, with the Storm further noting that 85% of all design and engineering team members involved in the project's construction were women and people of color. The finished product holds two professional indoor courts, two 3x3 outdoor courts, a state-of-the-art locker room, and players' lounge, plus designated areas for strength and conditioning, kitchen, dining, and nutrition, and recovery. 

"This facility reflects our commitment to providing our athletes an exceptional environment that supports their growth, health, and performance," said Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder in an official team release. "It’s built for women, by women, embodying our dedication to leading the way in professional women’s sports."

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For their part, the team can't wait to make the faciilty their own.

"It's amazing," Storm guard Jewell Loyd told Fox 13. "Not having to drive everywhere around, knowing you have access anytime of the day to get into the gym, to workout." 

Head coach Noelle Quinn said she predicts the team is "never going to leave this building."

"Which is a good thing for me," she continued. "You talk about having an edge in performance. We want our athletes to not only perform on the court, but get whatever they need."

All of the Storm's staff and operations will now live under one roof, and the team also has plans to launch a youth basketball program operating out of the building.

The Caitlin Clark effect is quickly making its mark on the big leagues, as WNBA host teams around the country rush to upgrade their Fever games to larger arenas in order to accommodate surging ticket sales.

With Clark mere weeks away from her Indiana Fever debut, both the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics have officially relocated their scheduled home games with head coach Christie Sides' squad. On Thursday, the Mystics became the latest to adjust their plans, moving their June 7th matchup from Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southwest DC to the more centrally located — and much larger — Capital One Arena "due to unprecedented demand."

The Mystics home court's capacity taps out at 4,200, while Capital One Arena — home to the Wizards, Capitals, and Georgetown Hoya's Men's Basketball — can fit nearly five times that crowd at some 20,000 spectators.

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"The move to Capital One Arena will allow for additional fans in the stands as well as premium hospitality options, including Suites and the all-new all-inclusive courtside Hennessy Lofts," the team announced via Thursday's press release.

The Aces were one of the first teams to switch venues, aiming to take on the Indiana Fever in front of as many as 20,000 fans inside T-Mobile Arena on July 2nd. That’s a sizable a boost from their home venue, which holds just 12,000.

For those still planning to face the Fever in their home arenas, ticket prices have skyrocketed. Previously scheduled construction has already forced the LA Sparks to relocate their first five games — including their May 24th clash with the Fever — to Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid. The temporary venue is quite the downsize, holding just 4,000 in comparison to Crypto.com Arena's near-19,000. As of Friday, the get-in price for that game started around $400.

Despite fans launching a Change.org petition urging relocation, the Chicago Sky say they're unable to move their June 23rd Fever meeting from Wintrust Arena's 10,000-seat facility to the 23,500-seat United Center due to a concert. Tickets for that game start around $325 as of Friday.