Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston come to TD Garden Tuesday night. Here's what to know.
Caitlin Clark mania is coming to Boston Tuesday night. Here's what to know as the superstar athlete and her Indiana Fever teammates take on the Connecticut Sun at TD Garden in a WNBA showcase event.
In 2024, the Sun made league history when they played the First-ever WNBA regular season game in Boston, drawing a sellout crowd of 19,156 fans at the home of the Celtics.
Catlin Clark at TD Garden
Then in December, the league announced that the WNBA would be making a return to TD Garden with Clark and the Fever taking on the team that normally plays its home games at Mohegan Sun.
Clark took college basketball by storm during her time at Iowa, averaging 28.4 points per game over four seasons. That included 31.6 points and 8.9 assists a game as a senior as she won hardware that included the Wooden Award, Naismith Award and AP Player of the Year.
Following that season, Clark was selected No. 1 overall by the Fever in the WNBA Draft. Clark went on to win Rookie of the Year honors, averaging 19.2 points off 42 percent shooting to go with 8.4 assists per game.
Clark's scoring has dipped in year two, and she's also missed 10 games due to injury. The sharpshooter returned to the floor last week after missing a stretch of five games with a groin injury. Earlier in the year, she was sidelined for five games with a quad strain.
Aliyah Boston homecoming
The game also serves as a Massachusetts homecoming for Aliyah Boston, Clark's fellow All-Star teammate with the Fever.
Boston, a forward who averages 16.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per game this year, was born in St. Thomas, but later moved to Worcester.
She played basketball and graduated from Worcester Academy. The 6'5" forward spent her college career at South Carolina. She won a national title with the Gamecocks in 2022.
On Monday, Boston was honored at the Massachusetts State House by Gov. Maura Healey and other elected officials for her accomplishments on the court and her efforts advancing women's sports.
Indiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun
Tuesday's game at TD Garden tips off at 8 p.m.
The Fever enter the game with a record of 11-10, fresh off a dominant 102-82 win Sunday over the Dallas Stars.
Connecticut, meanwhile, enters as the worst team in the WNBA. The Sun have a record of 3-18 after they lost 92-88 on Sunday.
This is the third of four meetings between the two teams this season. The Sun won the first matchup on May 30, 85-83, before Indiana bounced back with an 88-71 victory on June 17.
Tempers flared during the last matchup as there were a pair of skirmishes that led to three ejections. The hostility started when Connecticut's Jacy Sheldon poked Clark in the eye, Clark pushed her, then was shoved to the ground by the Sun's Marina Mabrey. Later in the game, Indiana guard Sophie Cunningham was ejected after taking down Sheldon with a hard foul.
How to get tickets
The game is nearly sold out, though a limited number of tickets are still for sale on the Ticketmaster website.
Tickets are for sale at face value with the lowest price being about $127 per person in the balcony. Tickets are also available on secondary market websites for around the same price.
Will the WNBA expand to Boston?
With the league growing in popularity, the WNBA recently announced it would be expanding to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia in the coming years.
Several other cities submitted bids for an expansion team, but Boston was not one of them.
Last week, Boston City Councilor Brian Worrell filed a resolution to support a WNBA team coming to Boston.
"Boston is the city of champions," Worrell said. "Basketball success is in our blood, and the time is now to get a WNBA franchise in the city."
Worrell's resolution urged the WNBA and its owners to explore a franchise in Boston amid reports that the Sun might be sold.
"I know we have interested business groups in Boston that would welcome a chance to relocate the Connecticut Sun to Boston," Worrell said. "They've been New England's team for two decades, but I think a spot in Boston would help them reach the audience they deserve. And with TD Garden, we have the facility right here in Boston to welcome a WNBA team."
