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Cupertino may not be a typical Sunday afternoon hotspot, but roughly 1,000 turned out Jan. 16 to witness the city's new woman's professional basketball team's first game. While the hometown team--the San Jose Spiders--did not win, the game at the De Anza College gym did not lack for excitement.
Down 25 points, the Spider's crawled back to within 2 before falling just short of victory, losing to the Lubbock (Texas) Hawks, 78-74.
Even so, the Spiders felt positive about their first game. "We were pleased," said Daryl Harrison, the team's vice president of operations. "It was pretty full," he said of the crowd, "and we have an exciting team."
Andrea Garner led the way for the Spiders, scoring 22 points. "She really paced the game," Harrison said.
Other players with local college ties also contributed, including Cricket Williams, Kayla Forster and Tatiana Taylor of San José State University, LaTasha O'Keith of UC-Berkeley and Tyeisha Hunter of Holy Names College in Oakland.
The Spiders are a new franchise in the National Women's Basketball League.
Founded in 1997, the six-team league in part provides a warm-up for the Women's National Basketball Association. The league's 24-game season runs from January through March, helping players prepare for the WNBA's summer season. The Spiders' 12-player roster includes two such WNBA players: Amanda Lassiter of the Minnesota Lynx and Amisha Carter of the Detroit Shock. Garner is also a former WNBA star for the Seattle Storm.
The Spiders' next home game is against the league's oldest franchise, the Birmingham (Ala.) Power, on Jan. 30 at 4 p.m. Tickets for games are $12 at the door and $10 for students.
For more information and directions to the De Anza gym and the team's schedule, visit www.nwbl.com/spiders, or call 510.633.1101.
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Photograph by Ellen Woods