The storied organization started as the vision of nine college students on the campus of Howard University in 1908. Since then, the sorority has flourished as a globally-impactful organization of nearly 300,000 college-trained members bound by the bonds of sisterhood and empowered by a commitment to servant-leadership across the globe.
As Alpha Kappa Alpha continues to change the world, it’s “maintained its focus on the lifelong personal and professional development of each of its members and galvanizing its membership into an organization of respected power and influence, consistently at the forefront of effective advocacy and social change that results in equality and equity for all citizens of the world,” per its site.
The Las Vegas Aces will shut down the Las Vegas Strip on Friday, October 17 for their third WNBA championship victory parade and rally in four years. The Aces defeated the Phoenix Mercury 97-86 in Game 4 of the finals at Footprint Center in Phoenix on Friday, October 10, completing a 4-0 sweep.
A’ja Wilson #22 of the Las Vegas Aces celebrates with Chelsea Gray #12 and Jewell Loyd #24 after winning Game 4 of the 2025 WNBA Playoffs finals at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix on Friday, October 10, 2025. (Image: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The festivities will begin at 5 p.m. at Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard. As with previous Aces parades, this one will travel north in the southbound lanes of Las Vegas Boulevard, turning left onto Park Avenue and Connector Road and ending at Toshiba Plaza outside T-Mobile Arena, the team’s home.
The first Las Vegas Aces’ WNBA championship victory parade and rally closes down the Las Vegas Strip on September 20, 2022. (Image: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Here, a two-hour rally will be filled with emotional speeches and live music. (In 2023, rapper 2 Chainz performed.)
To watch the rally, fans are advised by organizers to line up along the west side of Las Vegas Boulevard and Park Avenue.
Toshiba Plaza will open to the public at 3 p.m., with the celebration expected to last until around 7:30 p.m. An official Aces pop-up store will open at Toshiba Plaza at 4 p.m.
Closures
Great news for Las Vegas Aces fans eager to celebrate their favorite WNBA team means bad news for visitors attempting to navigate the Las Vegas Strip for any other reason.
Beginning at 3 p.m. on Friday, driving on the Strip will be impossible. Plan to do a lot more walking, through a lot denser crowds, than normal. Monorails will run but not RTC buses. Rideshare drop-offs are encouraged south of Tropicana Avenue.
Area Affected
Closure Details
Duration
Southbound Las Vegas Boulevard
Full closure from Tropicana Avenue to Park Avenue (near T-Mobile Arena)
Setup starts 4 p.m.; full closure 5–7:30 p.m.; reopens ~7:30–11 p.m. or later
Cross Streets (Flamingo, Harmon, Spring Mountain)
Rolling closures and detours at major intersections like Caesars Palace/Flamingo
Intermittent during parade; some setup from 6 a.m.
Tropicana Ave. to Aria Place
Partial/full southbound closure for staging
From ~4 p.m. until event ends
Park Avenue and Toshiba Plaza Area
Closure for rally and dispersal
Post-parade (~7:30 p.m. onward) until cleanup
For the latest, monitor official sources including the Aces’ website (lvaces.com) and police announcements on X (@LVMPD), as weather or logistics could adjust plans.
(CNN) — Three of a kind! The Las Vegas Aces can now call themselves the WNBA’s latest dynasty.
The Aces secured the 2025 WNBA championship following a 97-86 win over the Phoenix Mercury Friday to sweep the Finals.
It is Las Vegas’ third title in four seasons and were led by no other than superstar A’ja Wilson.
The 29-year-old Wilson finished with 31 points and nine rebounds to add another ring to her collection of accolades which include being named MVP for a record-breaking fourth time this season.
It wasn’t the only history Wilson made.
She was named Finals MVP for the second time in her career, and has now become the first player in WNBA history to win MVP, FMVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.
An emotional Wilson shared an embrace with her partner, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, following the win.
“For us to be able to celebrate this, it’s truly special,” Wilson told ESPN on making history. “We worked our butts off to get to this point. And now its time to have some fun. I wish I could take this credit but this is God’s work. This ain’t got nothing to do with me. This is not about X’s and O’s. This is from what’s inside.”
Just like the story in Game 3 a few days ago, it wasn’t an easy road to victory for Las Vegas.
Despite a 16-point deficit going into halftime, the Mercury have proven in these Finals that no one can ever count them out.
Phoenix clawed their way back into the game in the third quarter, cutting the Aces lead to just 12 behind forward Kahleah Copper scoring 12 of her 30 points in the period.
Late in the third, it all came to a crashing halt as Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts was ejected after being issued a double technical for arguing a foul call on guard Monique Akoa Makani.
The second-year coach appeared to be confused after the foul call before exiting the court and heading into the locker room tunnel.
The ejection grew the ire of Copper.
“I think the refs aren’t doing a good job tonight, I’m sorry,” Copper told ESPN during an in-game interview. “But we’ve just got to keep our heads.”
The Mercury kept up their resilience throughout the fourth quarter, turning it into a six-point game at one point but Las Vegas proved to be too much.
Copper would foul out of the game late in the fourth quarter just as the Aces appeared to have all but wrapped up the victory.
The Aces have now won their third title in four seasons. Credit: Stephen Gosling/NBAE / Getty Images via CNN Newsource
As the buzzer sounded and Aces players and coaches rushed onto the Mortgage Matchup Center floor to celebrate the win, guard Chelsea Gray commended her team for getting through the adversity they faced all season.
“This team has been through hell and back,” an emotional Gray told ESPN after the game before hugging head coach Becky Hammon. “What a run. Everyone stepped up. Everybody. We got the best player in the world in A’ja Wilson. … We’re champions bro.”
The start of the 2025 season was a grueling one for the Aces, starting out 14-14 before winning their last 16 regular season games.
As WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert was booed loudly while addressing the Phoenix crowd, it was Aces and NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis who got to hoist the WNBA championship trophy first.
A fiery way to end the 2025 WNBA Finals
The loss is a familiar feeling for Phoenix, who have now lost in the WNBA Finals for the second time in five years.
Tibbetts didn’t mince words about his ejection and the refereeing.
“To me, that’s embarrassing. I feel bad that I was tossed. Been around this game a long time. I think it’s one of the weakest double technicals ever,” Tibbetts told reporters after the game. “I didn’t even know I got the second one, to be completely honest. I don’t understand it.”
Tibbetts added he wasn’t trying to get himself ejected.
“We’re playing for our playoff lives. Most coaches when they get tossed, you’re doing it on purpose. That was not my intention at all,” he added. “There’s been issues with the officiating all year. I have to look at it. I feel like I didn’t deserve that.”
When asked about her comments to ESPN during the game, Copper stopped short of expanding on her feelings.
“It’s cool. It’s done. We don’t even got to talk about that. It’s cool. It’s done,” Copper said.
Phoenix has won three championships in their franchise history, the last coming in 2014. The team came into Friday’s win-or-go-home game shorthanded after forward Satou Sabally sustained a concussion late in Game 3 and suffered another blow when forward Alyssa Thomas appeared to injure her shoulder before halftime.
She returned in the second half, but it was apparent the injury bothered her the rest of the way.
Thomas told reporters her shoulder was “good” and said she was proud of the way her team responded all season.
“I think this team just showed what we’re about. It’s a game I don’t think I ever been a part of like that, but super proud of how we fought, continued to play through everything. It’s been a great season. No one expected us to even be here,” Thomas said.
“Of course it didn’t go the way that we want it to end, but we have a lot to build on.”
Caitlin Clark added another milestone to her historic rookie campaign, breaking the WNBA single-season assists record in the Indiana Fever’s 78-74 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.Video above: Central Alabama basketball player goes viral singing in front of his coaches and teammatesClark entered the game needing just four assists to match the previous record of 316 set by Connecticut Sun guard Alyssa Thomas in 2023. She set the new mark in the second quarter on an inbounds pass to teammate Kelsey Mitchell, who drove to the paint and knocked down the bucket.Clark finished the game with 18 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, while Mitchell led Indiana with 20 points in the loss.The accomplishment adds to the 2024 No. 1 pick’s historic season, which includes setting the WNBA’s single-game assist record with 19 against the Dallas Wings in July and the rookie assists record last month. Clark has also become the first rookie to record a triple-double and holds the most 3-pointers made by a rookie in league history.Indiana trailed 43-35 at halftime before Clark caught fire in the third quarter, scoring 14 points and bringing the Fever to within three points. After Damiris Dantas made a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 60-60, the Aces broke out on a 9-2 run to pad their lead.The Fever had an opportunity to tie the game with under 20 seconds left in the game, but Fever star Aliyah Boston missed the 3-point attempt. Aces guard Chelsea Gray made a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession to put the game out of reach.Aces star A’ja Wilson, fresh off of setting the WNBA’s single-season scoring record Wednesday, finished with 15 points and 17 rebounds in the victory, while Gray added 21 points and six assists.After the game, Clark was asked about her record-setting night, as well as Wilson’s and Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese’s milestones this season.“I think it definitely just speaks to the whole entire year and how historic it has been for this league and how great the basketball has been for the league,” Clark said.“You know we’re not even to the playoffs yet; I think that’s what is so fun about it is you’re just going to continue to see records be taken down, but also, I think, really good basketball, and that’s why it’s been so fun to watch, that’s why the fans have been showing up, the viewership has been absolutely crushed this year,” she added.“I think everybody is just kind of raising their game, the competition is just getting better and better, and it’s fun as a competitor to show up in this league every night and know you have to bring your best because you know whoever is on the other side of the court from you, they’re going to bring their best and that’s what makes it fun,” Clark said. “It’s been cool to watch everybody really take a step up and elevate, and to be a part of that has been really fun for myself, too.”Though the Fever fell short to the Aces for a second straight game, they remain in sixth place in the standings and have already secured a spot in the playoffs. Indiana will face Dallas on Sunday before wrapping up the regular season against the Washington Mystics on Sept. 19.
Caitlin Clark added another milestone to her historic rookie campaign, breaking the WNBA single-season assists record in the Indiana Fever’s 78-74 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Video above: Central Alabama basketball player goes viral singing in front of his coaches and teammates
Clark entered the game needing just four assists to match the previous record of 316 set by Connecticut Sun guard Alyssa Thomas in 2023. She set the new mark in the second quarter on an inbounds pass to teammate Kelsey Mitchell, who drove to the paint and knocked down the bucket.
Clark finished the game with 18 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, while Mitchell led Indiana with 20 points in the loss.
The accomplishment adds to the 2024 No. 1 pick’s historic season, which includes setting the WNBA’s single-game assist record with 19 against the Dallas Wings in July and the rookie assists record last month. Clark has also become the first rookie to record a triple-double and holds the most 3-pointers made by a rookie in league history.
Indiana trailed 43-35 at halftime before Clark caught fire in the third quarter, scoring 14 points and bringing the Fever to within three points. After Damiris Dantas made a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 60-60, the Aces broke out on a 9-2 run to pad their lead.
The Fever had an opportunity to tie the game with under 20 seconds left in the game, but Fever star Aliyah Boston missed the 3-point attempt. Aces guard Chelsea Gray made a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession to put the game out of reach.
Aces star A’ja Wilson, fresh off of setting the WNBA’s single-season scoring record Wednesday, finished with 15 points and 17 rebounds in the victory, while Gray added 21 points and six assists.
After the game, Clark was asked about her record-setting night, as well as Wilson’s and Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese’s milestones this season.
“I think it definitely just speaks to the whole entire year and how historic it has been for this league and how great the basketball has been for the league,” Clark said.
“You know we’re not even to the playoffs yet; I think that’s what is so fun about it is you’re just going to continue to see records be taken down, but also, I think, really good basketball, and that’s why it’s been so fun to watch, that’s why the fans have been showing up, the viewership has been absolutely crushed this year,” she added.
“I think everybody is just kind of raising their game, the competition is just getting better and better, and it’s fun as a competitor to show up in this league every night and know you have to bring your best because you know whoever is on the other side of the court from you, they’re going to bring their best and that’s what makes it fun,” Clark said. “It’s been cool to watch everybody really take a step up and elevate, and to be a part of that has been really fun for myself, too.”
Though the Fever fell short to the Aces for a second straight game, they remain in sixth place in the standings and have already secured a spot in the playoffs. Indiana will face Dallas on Sunday before wrapping up the regular season against the Washington Mystics on Sept. 19.
