Bay Area fans get glimpse of the future with Bay Area Women’s Classic

The two-game event featured four of the best teams in women’s college basketball; No. 11 Ohio State beat Bay Area powerhouse Stanford 84-59, and No. 1 UCLA topped Creighton 70-41. Even though neither game was very competitive, fans still had a lot to cheer for, and the crowd was quite lively for the Friday before Christmas.

“I thought the event was really cool,” Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff said. “We have players on our team who are good enough and aspire to play in the WNBA and so for them to play in a WNBA arena, it’s a really fun opportunity and like I said, the organization and just execution of the tournament, it was awesome.”

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As the first game tipped off at 5:30 p.m. local time, the crowd was still trickling in, but there was a sizeable ovation from a heavy pro-Stanford crowd when guard Tess Heal scored the Cardinal’s first basket of the game. The early game saw a sea of red shirts between Cardinal fans and Buckeyes fans, who both traveled well.

Throughout both games, there was a lot of women’s basketball gear in general, showing how much the sport has grown. Fans were wearing everything from the classic WNBA sweatshirt to TOGETHXR’s “Everyone watches women’s sports” T-shirts. There were also people in A’ja Wilson, Caitlin Clark and WNBA All-Star Game jerseys.

There was also a strong smattering of black and purple, as people of all ages were donning the new Valkyries gear.

Even though the Chase Center has been known as the home of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, who are in season right now, the Valkyries were the pro team most represented by fans. The Valkyries used the event to continue growing the momentum they’ve had since their announcement. Once during each game, they showed a promotion featuring the 11 players the team selected in the recent WNBA expansion draft. That got big cheers, especially when Kate Martin, their pick from the Las Vegas Aces, was announced.

Also at the first game was basketball Hall of Famer and former Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer. She was shown on the big screen during a break between quarters, earning a roaring ovation. At halftime, she was seen taking photos with fans and talking with Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin and president Jess Smith.

Nyanin says she was excited about having the event and wants to grow it going forward.

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VanDerveer’s heir at Stanford, Kate Paye, knows an event like this shows the growth of women’s basketball and allows her team to adjust to a different environment.

“This was a great experience for our team,” Stanford head coach Kate Paye said. “In preparation for this event, I heard a lot of people say that this was the first women’s college basketball game at Chase Center. However, that is not true, because I know that we played here before, we played San Francisco, I believe in 2019, but this is obviously a beautiful venue. Everything has been totally first class. Our team was really excited for the opportunity. It’s a beautiful day in San Francisco. Just to play in this environment, this was our first neutral court game, it was a new opportunity to learn for our team.”

One of the biggest groups of people who attended the Classic were young girls. A lot of local youth basketball programs brought their players to watch the event and introduce them to women who they could look up to. A large group of girls stood near the players’ tunnel postgame, asking for autographs and pictures with UCLA stars Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice.

One local program, Fever Basketball, even had its team play during halftime of the Stanford game. The Fever program is based out of Pinewood High School, which is just 15 minutes south of Stanford and is the home of former Cardinal star Hannah Jump. Jump, along with another former Cardinal, Francesca Belibi, were at the first game supporting their team.

The crowd from the first game largely stayed for the second game and even grew as the game approached halftime. UCLA had a strong contingency of fans who made the short trip north and made a lot of noise as the Bruins jumped on Creighton. Early in the game, Rice hit a deep 3-pointer as the shot clock expired, which got a huge roar from the crowd. The Bruins took control of the game quickly and never looked back.

“I think immediately, when we walked in, we just all just took notice of how nice this was,” UCLA guard Kiki Rice said. “Chase Center is a beautiful arena, and I think we were all talking about how the rims were nice. This is a shooter’s gym, obviously, with the incredible players that the Warriors have, Steph Curry and all that. Just a fantastic opportunity to play in a pro arena that’s also now going to be place where a WNBA team is going to play.”

One of the things that drew the biggest cheers from fans was a dance performance by the Harwood Classics, the Warriors’ dance team of people over the age of 55. This hopefully gave fans who are interested in going to Valkyries games an idea of what they can expect. It might also give the Valkyries ideas for their own in-game entertainment.

Although the full Chase Center wasn’t available for seating (the upper levels were curtained off) the lower bowl was nicely filled in. With over 3,700 people attending the two-game event, it showed that people in the Bay Area are very interested in women’s basketball.

That had also been shown in the over 20,000 season ticket deposits the Valkyries have received. Even during the games, people who had put in a deposit for Valkyries season tickets were being shown different seats they could pick. People who had already selected tickets but hadn’t seen them in person got the chance to see where they will be sitting to watch the newest WNBA franchise.

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With Friday’s games, fans of women’s basketball in the Bay Area got a preview of what having the sport at the highest level at the Chase Center will be like. The Valkyries also got to see how much excitement there is for their product and the type of fans they can expect. And the event showed the growth of women’s basketball in the area and where it will continue to go.

“Selfishly, for me, I grew up in the Bay Area,” UCLA head coach Cori Close said. “I had someone who came up to me who works here that went to elementary school and middle school with me … to get to come home and coach in this arena, and watch my players play, and then to be get excited for what the Valkyries are going to do here.”

“Man, I’m just excited to be a part of women’s basketball right now.”