My first game was in 1990, at Gampel. It had recently opened, and our student intern wanted us to see the girl of his dreams who played for the women's basketball team. Her name was Debbie Baer, and since there was an afternoon game at Gampel he thought we could sneak over there and take a look.
So he and a coworker and I walked into the Gampel lobby, where there was a young woman sitting at a folding table which had a cash box, roll of raffle tickets, and cup of soda on it. We paid $5 each for our tickets and entered the arena. The game was already underway.
The venue was impressive, but almost empty. We walked down to one of the lower rows of chairback seats and got comfortable. Our intern pointed out Ms. Baer, and my coworker and I agreed that he had good taste. But I was more impressed with the play of the team.
They were playing Miami, a formidable foe, but their crisp passing and ball movement showed me they were very disciplined and well coached. I was a men's basketball fan then, but after seeing our women in action I was converted to the women's game.