Up In The Air

ONE ON ONE ON ONE: COMPARING LEAGUES

How did the WNBA do in its regular season? Attendance was high, but shooting was low. The newest women's league had more experienced players than the ABL, But they were paid less-millions less than the men in the NBA. Other matchups:

Player averages WNBA ABL NBA Years of pro experience 4.3* 3.8* 4.6 Age 27 yrs. 27 yrs. 27.7 yrs. Height 6 ft. 5 ft. 11.5 in. 6 ft. 7 in. Weight 164 lb. n.a. 223.7 lb. Salary $30,000 $70,000 $2.3 million Shooting percentages Field goals 41% 43.9% 45.5% Free throws 71% 75% 73.8% Three-pointers** 31% 35.1% 36% Points per game (avg.) 69 78.2 96.9 Number of teams 8 8++ 29 Games per season 28 40 82 Reg.-season attendance(avg.) 9,391+ 3,600 17,077 Ticket price (avg.) $14-$15 $10 $34 *Includes overseas experience, +to date. **Men's 3-point line is 23 ft; women's is 19 ft. 9 inc. ++Does not include long beach expansion team added 1997-98. Sources: WNBA, ABI, NBA, Nielsen Sports Marketing

Balls in Play: The NBA and the ABL use a size 7 ball that is 29% inches in circumference. The WNBA ball is a size 6, one inch smaller.

TV ratings: NBC brought WNBA games to an average of 1.4 million households this season, compared with the 2.9 million house-holds watching major-league baseball on Fox. The NBA averaged 4.8 million house-holds for the regular season on NBC.

PHOTOS (COLOR): Stealth Bomber: While Swoopes, Lobo and Leslie got hype-and endorsements-Cooper got points