DiJonai Carrington led the way for the Connecticut Sun in its win against the Los Angeles Sparks, then called out the WNBA for not doing enough to promote Tuesday’s historic game at TD Garden in Boston.
This was the first-ever WNBA game to be staged at the famous Garden, host to countless showdowns between NBA rivals the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, and 19,156 tickets were sold for the occasion.
The total represented the third-highest attendance at a WNBA game this season and the most tickets sold for a Sun game in franchise history.
“I feel like Connecticut as a franchise is historically disrespected,” Carrington, who scored 19 points in the 69-61 win over the Sparks, told reporters. “Sometimes, if you want something, you’ve got to go out there and do it for yourself. That’s what I did for us.
“I think that there could have been a lot more publicity and promo from the top … The game should have been on a national television broadcast. You shouldn’t have to pay for any type of subscription to see a game that’s this historic, in my opinion.”
For those outside Boston or LA, the second matchup between the Sun and the Sparks this season was available to watch via the WNBA League Pass and also livestreamed on the WNBA’s X, formerly known as Twitter, account.
Prior to the game, Carrington had posted on X about the players having to “do our own promo,” tagging the WNBA. CNN has contacted the league for further comment.
Against the Sparks, Carrington – who also had four rebounds – was supported by 15 points from Brionna Jones, who passed 2,000 career points, and 14 from Tyasha Harris. Alyssa Thomas, meanwhile, nearly had a triple double with nine points, 16 rebounds and eight assists.
The contest was evenly poised in the fourth quarter as Los Angeles held a 59-55 lead with 4:15 left on the clock. However, a 14-2 run from Connecticut closed out the victory, which was the team’s 11th straight win over the Sparks.
The Sun improved to 20-7 on the season, despite shooting only 38.4 percent from the field, while Los Angeles dropped to 6-22.
“I’m really thankful,” said Sun coach Stephanie White, per ESPN. “Our team and our players, they deserve this, and they got an opportunity to experience it. We’ve experienced it sometimes on the road, but not 19,000 for a home game, and it was just a lot of fun.
“It’s incredible. It speaks to our continued growth as a league. It speaks to the women’s basketball fans here in the New England area, and New England-area sports fans in general,” White added. “They’re passionate about their sports.”