SAN FRANCISCO — The fans in a packed arena were decked out in matching purple T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase “First of a Lifetime.”
After years of hoping the WNBA would come to the San Francisco Bay Area, and more than 18 months after being awarded an expansion team, the Golden State Valkyries made their debut Friday night, hosting the Los Angeles Sparks on the first night of the 29th season for the professional women’s basketball league.
The environment produced by a sellout crowd of 18,064 fans during the 84-67 loss to the Sparks was everything the Valkyries hoped it would be.
“It was amazing,” guard Tiffany Hayes — a 14th-year pro who was honored as the WNBA’s sixth woman of the year last season while playing for the Connecticut Sun — said after the game. “I enjoyed myself. We’ve got a lot to work on. It was a tough game. But all in all, the crowd really gave us a lot of life out there. I wish we could have gave a little bit more back, but at the end of the day, it’s first game from us. We know we have a lot to learn.
“But I had a lot of fun out there, and I enjoyed the energy from the crowd.”