AUSTIN — The Dallas Wings took to Austin for their Sunday night preseason clash with the Las Vegas Aces, as women’s basketball fans showed out for the first-ever WNBA game to be played at the Moody Center.
Fans started gathering outside of the venue, the home arena of the University of Texas men’s and women’s basketball teams, at least two hours before the scheduled 6 p.m. tip and lined up to purchase Wings merchandise in the lobby.
When the Wings met the Aces last preseason, they also battled it out at a college campus venue: Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion.
“It’s really fun to just spread the WNBA and spread women’s basketball and spread women’s sports in general,” star Wings guard Paige Bueckers said ahead of Sunday’s contest. “There’s no better time than now, so it’s really fun to get out here in Austin.”
Bueckers met Texas at the Moody Center in December 2023 while still at UConn. Despite the memory of losing 80-68 to the Longhorns, she had high praise for the venue.
“I do remember the great environment,” Bueckers said. “The arena’s amazing.”