Taking their turn

AP photo Phoenix Mercury guard Bridgette Pettis drives to the basket Sunday in the WNBA's first game at America West Arena. The Mercury beat the Charlotte Sting 76-59 to open the season.

Vic Brace, like many fathers last Sunday, was excited about bringing his children to the first WNBA game in Phoenix.

He looked forward to explaining the game to his daughter Elizabeth, 12, and enjoyed watching her eyes light up as the game progressed.

They were both a part of history and it is not something they will soon forget.

Sunday, Brace and his daughter were among the 16,102 frenzied fans who packed the America West Arena in Phoenix to be witnesses to women's basketball history as the Phoenix Mercury opened their inaugural Women's National Basketball Association season agai nst the Charlotte Sting.

The Mercury defeated the Sting, 76-59, with hustle and timely shooting, but it was the fans in Phoenix and Arizona that ultimately won.

Never before had more people in the United States watched a women's professional basketball game. In a pre-season match-up last Thursday with the Los Angeles Sparks, the Mercury drew 9,677 fans to the Arizona State Activity Center, which is closer to the maximum capacity of 9,600 set for the rest of the season.

America West Arena was jammed with young families and women who wanted to see the realization of a dream.

"I think it is absolutely fabulous. It certainly has been a long time coming, but the women showed today that they are competitive and know how to put on a great show," said Angela Barnes of Phoenix, who brought her son Kenneth to the game.

"The enthusiasm from the crowd and the teams were unbelievable. It is absolutely going to last. Society is finally ready to support it," said Erika Adelman of Phoenix.

Even before the game tipped off, eager fans flocked to the arena to watch the pre-game festivities that included dance routines performed by the Mercury's Hip-Hop Spirit squad and free promotional giveaways. The pre-game festivities were capped off by a r ousing rendition of the National Anthem by Motown recording legend Gladys Knight that brought the record-setting crowd to its feet.

The fans in Phoenix were eager to see if the WNBA would live up to the hype and marketing that had saturated their televisions this past year.

And for at least one game it did, as fans swarmed souvenir stands and autograph lines at the end of the game to have a piece of Mercury and WNBA memorabilia.

Women especially flocked to the arena, as they made up at least half, of the total attendance.

"My mom got season tickets. It was sort of a women's lib thing for her, but I think women should do their part and support it," said Jamie Halford, 16, of Chandler.

"Its nice to see there are now more opportunities for women and now little girls can dream about some day being a future NBA star," said Becca Wooding, 16, also of Chandler.

Renee Brown, the WNBA's director of player personnel said so far the fans have been great and that they have embraced the women's game.

"For any fan, male or female, if you love basketball, you'll want to come out and watch these basketball games," she said.

Brown said the players and coaches of the eight pioneering WNBA teams have the added responsibility of being role models to a entire generation of young girls and all of them are eager to do just that.

"The player's understand their responsibilities and they understand what's going on in the bigger scheme of things and I think they will embrace that," Brown said.

Kathy Krauskopf, the WNBA's director of basketball operations was excited by the large turnout on Sunday.

"What Phoenix did today was great. They put on a great show and that's what will keep fan interest alive," Krauskopf said.

Both Brown and Krauskopf are former basketball players who grew up with predominantly male role models and both realized the potential of what the WNBA has to offer girls around the world.

"A young girl can now wear her favorite WNBA player's jersey, or emulate a move she saw in today's game and I think that makes all of us involved very satisfied," Krauskopf said.

Unlike their rival, the American Basketball League, the WNBA has adequate television exposure by landing contracts with NBC, ESPN and the Lifetime Network for this season and the money to launch an aggressive advertising campaign to promote the league.

The WNBA also hopes that inexpensive ticket prices will continue to lure large crowds. Tickets range from $8 to $27 for all WNBA games.

Brace said next time he will bring the rest of his family to the game because it is more economical than any other professional sport in Phoenix.

Former Phoenix Sun's guard Frank Johnson was also on hand with his family to take in the game. Johnson said Phoenix fans have always supported the Suns and it should not be any different for the Mercury.

"There was a lot of excitement in the air today. The teams did a great job of coming in here and making people aware of what is going on and how exciting it is going to be," Johnson said.

Rana Steele said her entire family came to the game because they are big fans of the Mercury's head coach and general manager Cheryl Miller.

Miller was a three-time NCAA player of the year for USC in the mid-1980s and most recently served as the first female basketball analyst for Turner Network Television during the past two NBA seasons.

"Were all here to see Cheryl. I enjoyed watching her in college and I'm very interested in how she will do as a coach," said Steele, 28, of Sierra Vista.

Miller after the game was so moved by the crowd that she grabbed the microphone as the players were congratulating each other after the game to personally thank the Phoenix fans. At the post-game press conference Miller said the fans were the x-factor for her team that afternoon.

"We play an intense 40-minute game and you try to find that extra spark and in this game with 16,000 fans it was like plugging into a socket and that's what we need every game especially when we are at home," Miller said.

Mercury starting point guard Michelle Timms, an international star from Australia, said the crowd was larger than life.

"The crowd does make a hell of a lot of difference to us and we are going to use that to our advantage all season," she said.

Miller also addressed the question of whether this women's league will last after two similar leagues in the 1980s failed after only one season.

"From what I've seen here in Phoenix, it has worked and it is going to work," Miller said.

"This is the first league and there is going to be some growing pains. But the fact that the intensity, the fan support and everything else is their and it is certain to lead to a positive direction."