The WNBA was launched to help bring women’s basketball to the United States.  The NBA had continued success and many felt there would be a big market for a professional women’s league.  And 15 years since its inception, the WNBA is alive and well.

It was on this day, June 21st, 1997, that the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks played in the first ever WNBA game.  At the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles, the New York Liberty would win 67 – 57.

The first points were scored by Los Angeles Sparks guard Penny Toler.  The Liberty would have an outstanding inaugural WNBA season, reaching the finals where they lost to Cynthia Cooper and the Houston Comets.