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Did you have some big dreams when you were 12? Did you say to yourself, "I want to do this someday, and here is where I want to do it"?

Did you forget about those dreams as you grew older? Or did they change? Or did reality intervene and make them unattainable?

Noelle Quinn was a 12-year-old fan at the Great Western Forum on June 21, 1997. Her mom, Golden Quinn, had gotten season tickets to a new basketball team in Los Angeles called the Sparks. Noelle played AAU basketball; she was smaller than a lot of her teammates, but she loved the sport.

She looked on as L.A.'s Penny Toler scored the first basket in WNBA history. She took it all in and incorporated it with other plans she'd long had.

"I always wanted to go to UCLA," Quinn said. "Since I was a little kid, that was my goal. And since that day [of the first WNBA game], I wanted to be a part of what was happening there, too. I wanted to play for the Sparks.

"Everything I dreamed of and imagined then … it's surreal. It's actually come true."

On Wednesday night (ESPN2, 10 ET), the Sparks will host Phoenix in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. Normally, the Sparks play in the Staples Center. But that arena has a Britney Spears concert booked for Wednesday, so the Sparks will move to UCLA's Pauley Pavilion.

Sure, you can grumble when Britney or Mariah or "Sesame Street" bumps a WNBA team from its home during the postseason. But it's a financial reality that a big event that's guaranteed months in advance is smart business for an arena, versus the uncertainty of whether a team might make the playoffs.

Besides, in this case, it's kind of a neat twist of fate: Quinn, in her first season with the Sparks after being traded from Minnesota in May, will be back in the gym where she spent her college years.

Quinn is a native of L.A. and won four state championships with Bishop Montgomery High in Torrance, Calif. In the summer before her sophomore year, there was a big change in Quinn. But it was so gradual, she didn't quite notice.

"I remember my knees were hurting really bad a lot of times, and I thought it was from jumping so much," she said. "Because I played volleyball, too. But then I went back to school, and everyone was like, 'Wow, you got taller!' And I realized some of my friends who I'd always been shorter than, now I was looking down at them."

By the time she was done growing, she'd reached 6 feet tall. She stayed true to her childhood wish to attend UCLA, even though there were many other options. Her closeness to her mother and her older sister, Elonte, was a big part of her decision not to leave. But so was the feeling that she preferred to represent the West Coast in the college game.

"I wanted to be an example to the community where I grew up," she said. "That you could stay here and be successful. You didn't have to go anywhere else."

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Quinn was a standout for the Bruins from 2003 through 2007, going to the NCAA tournament twice. But then it really was time to leave: She was the No. 4 overall pick by Minnesota in the 2007 draft.

"That was my first time being away from home, and I grew up quickly," Quinn said. "Like any move to a different level, there was that period of adjustment. But Teresa Edwards was there, coaching, and the staff there really helped me out a lot. And my teammates, too -- like Seimone Augustus. She's not just a great player but a great person."

Edwards was then an assistant for Don Zierden with the Lynx. They both believed Quinn could be a stellar point guard, although she was more doubtful.

"I never considered myself one particular position; I just played basketball," Quinn said. "Wherever my coach needed me to play, I would try my best to do that. When I was at UCLA with Nikki Blue [with whom she played for three seasons], I was more on the wing.

"I didn't quite think I was going to be comfortable playing the point initially at Minnesota. But my coach right away said that he would put me there. It's a tough position -- you have to be prepared to be a leader and be vocal. I don't think I was ready for that. But as time went on, I got more comfortable."

And in Edwards, Quinn had one of the best point guards in women's basketball history as a mentor.

"One of the things I really learned from her was competitiveness," Quinn said. "We had a lot of conversations. And I remember she would tell me I had what it takes, but that I had to have more of the fight and fire within me.

"Being around 'T' and listening -- she's a legend and she's done so much for women's basketball. I really respect her. And so everything she taught me about playing the point guard position, I tried to incorporate it into my game."

Quinn also was inspired by a Lakers legend she grew up admiring: Magic Johnson, who was a tall point guard.

"He had the court vision that I think is sometimes harder for a smaller guard," Quinn said. "But he also had the ability to get to the rim and shoot over smaller opponents. It can be a big advantage to be a bigger point guard.

"I still fight it at times. But I'm learning every step of the way."

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A great lesson came Friday in Game 2 of the first-round series between L.A. and Seattle. Quinn was inbounding the ball near the end of the game with the Sparks clinging to a one-point lead …

First, though, let's go back to just before the start of this season. Quinn got the news that she was being traded to L.A. and was ecstatic.

"Words can't describe it," she said.

Among the many advantages was being close again to the piano at her mom's house.

"I've played since the second grade," Quinn said of one of her favorite hobbies. "I haven't had a lot of time during the season, but when I go over there, I always make sure to play it."

Blissful as her life has been away from hoops this summer, Quinn has gone through some trials along with the rest of the Sparks. The season started with Candace Parker out on maternity leave. Then Lisa Leslie was injured. The Sparks at one point looked in danger of not making the playoffs.

"It's been an up-and-down season for us, because we're better than what our record shows," Quinn said of the Sparks' 18-16 regular-season mark. "We came together at the right time."

Quinn became more effective when Parker joined her on the court and Leslie came back. She averaged 8.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the regular season.

She came off the bench in the first playoff game against Seattle and didn't have a very good game: four points on 1-of-7 shooting and two assists. Her performance improved in the second game of the series, with six points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals.

However, she also had five turnovers, the last of which was crushing for L.A.

Quinn inbounded the ball with 10.7 seconds left. Seattle's Camille Little stepped in and stole it, racing down the sidelines, passing to Tanisha Wright, getting it back and driving in for what proved to be the winning layup in the 75-74 game.

It had happened so fast; the Sparks had led by four points with 14 seconds left. Now the series was tied 1-1, and L.A. had to win again in Seattle's KeyArena to keep Leslie's career from being over.

You can imagine how Quinn felt: Here she was, the L.A. kid getting the chance to play with Leslie, one of the idols of her youth. Now, had she made a mistake that would end up costing the Sparks a trip to the Western Conference finals and keeping Leslie from a chance at one last title?

Yeah, Quinn was very upset. But her teammates told her to shake it off. Everyone had made mistakes during the game, they said. All that mattered was coming out strong and winning Game 3.

"I sat and watched film until early in the morning," Quinn said. "I was beating myself up about it. But at the same time, those are the type of moments that are going to help me.

"I had to really reflect on it and understand what I could have done better. I'm actually kind of happy I went through it, because if I'm in that situation again, I'll know what to do."

Quinn said what she probably should have done was bounce the ball off one of the Storm players and out of bounds to give herself a better look at inbounding it.

"We didn't have any timeouts left, and everyone was guarded closely," Quinn said. "So my options were limited. But I could have done that."

Toler -- who so long ago Quinn had watched score the WNBA's first basket -- is now the Sparks' general manager and vice president. She reassured Quinn after Friday's loss.

"She told me that one play didn't win or lose the game, there were other opportunities in that game," Quinn said. "And it wasn't a championship game. It wasn't the end; we had another game. And I think everybody stayed positive and knew we'd come back out and play well."

Which they did; the Sparks won the clinching game 75-64. This time, Quinn started, and she responded with nine points, seven assists and four rebounds.

"I just wanted to get to that next game and play," she said. "Sitting in the hotel room waiting for that game, all I could do was think about what happened. I felt I'd let my team down, and I just wanted to kind of redeem myself."

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At UCLA, Quinn had 1,829 points, 794 rebounds and 450 assists. She was the Pac-10 rookie of the year in 2004, and made the all-conference first team as a freshman, junior and senior.

Now, she'll be back in the building where so much of that happened. She'll have family and friends there, and she'll be playing alongside two fellow L.A. natives who've been in the WNBA since it began: Leslie and Tina Thompson.

Sometimes, the feel-good notion that the WNBA inspires young girls is repeated almost by rote, like just another talking point to sell a product. But then you put a name and a face to that -- how a real girl's life was affected -- and it affirms the exhilaration of realizing role models and opportunity really do make a difference.

Just look at Noelle Quinn: once a child watching the Sparks, now a woman playing for them.

"It's so exciting, especially because of who I'm playing with," she said. "Being in L.A. and having the support here -- everything is just coming together for me. These are the moments you dream of when you're little."

Mechelle Voepel, a regular contributor to ESPN.com, can be reached at mvoepel123@yahoo.com. Read her blog at http://voepel.wordpress.com.