A FIRST-name star. That’s what women’s basketball needed all along and now the game has it in Chamique Holdsclaw, known affectionately as Chamique, or ‘Mique for short. Kind of like Michael, don’t you think?

All the proof you needed yesterday was there at the Garden in the form of 15,735 fans, the largest crowd to ever attend a women’s college game at the Mecca as Tennessee outlasted Rutgers, 68-54.

They certainly weren’t there to see Pat Summitt’s hairdo, which can go one-on-one with Pat Riley’s any time. They were there for Chamique’s homecoming and it marked the first time a college women’s game has taken center stage here since 1981.

The last time these two teams played in a New York City gym, the biggest obstacle for UT was the swooping birds diving out of Fordham’s Rose Hill Gym’s rafters in 1979. Rutgers’ outside shots were the only swooping items yesterday as the Scarlet Knights shot 37.5 from the field.

It didn’t matter that the former Christ the King star disappointed with a two-for-nine performance and a season-low eight points. Homecomings can be difficult. What was amazing was her presence on the floor and afterwards when she showed the kind of poise and friendliness that is rarely seen in the men’s game these days.

Like that guy Michael, she has the ability to make you feel good just being around her.

“She is such a great person, that’s why I wanted to make sure she had a game here her senior year,” said Summitt, truly touched by her star.

Holdsclaw has a crossover ability so tremendous that men and women, boys and girls, appreciate her game. She is not just a women’s star, she is a basketball star. Just as Michael Jordan was able to bring over a new segment of fan, Chamique Holdsclaw can do the same for the women’s game.

“I’ve talked to Coach Summitt about that a lot,” she said, proudly. “It’s amazing how many little boys are walking around wearing my Tennessee jersey. If I’m in the mall, I get more boys coming up to me asking me for my autograph than I do girls.”

“She’s an inspiration to all kids,” Summitt said. “They want to try to be like Chamique. She’s also brought media exposure, and any time there is media exposure for a female player, that’s a real bonus.”

Just as another generation wanted to be like Mike, a growing number of kids want to be like Chamique. The women’s game will never have the same high-flying appeal as the men’s, of course, and no one will ever captivate an audience like Jordan, but on a sports map dotted with overpaid, grumpy stars, a nice person with a great game like Holdsclaw has room to grow on you.

The WNBA, a league with magical marketing power, has noticed, of course. Seated in the third row yesterday was Richie Adubato, the Liberty’s new coach, while Knicks president Ernie Grunfeld and Liberty GM Carol Blazejowski were across the floor. You can be sure that Garden management will try to find a way for Chamique to wear a Liberty jersey next season, even though Washington has the top pick in that draft.

Just as the Knicks somehow won the lottery and latched onto a kid named Patrick Ewing in another decade, the Liberty must find a way to land Chamique. Can you say massive trade, boys and girls?

Playing for the Liberty would be a dream come true, Chamique said.

“Women’s basketball is kind of on the map in New York now because of the Liberty,” she noted.

What better way to bring over the male basketball fan to the Liberty than with this hometown product? When Chamique walked on the court yesterday, it was a unique experience, not just because she was back home, but because of the brazenness of the New York fan. One guy was screaming he could win thousands of dollars if she buried some threes. If they bet on you, they love you.

She knows that her game is respected by men.

“Getting up and down the floor, I think that’s what my game is about, the slashing game,” she said.

Dawn Staley, who played in the deceased ABL, was talking about the beauty of Chamique’s play in the hallway near the Knick locker room.

“Chamique has the type of game [where] to a basketball fan, lovers of the game, students of the game, can really understand her effectiveness to the game,” Staley said. “A lot of people want to see the flash and the crossover, but that’s not a part of the game. She uses the game, picks the game apart and that’s the beauty of it. I like her for what she brings to the game. She thinks The Game and that’s a lost art.”

Holdsclaw could have come out of college last year and made a bit more money with two competing leagues, but she went back to get her degree and bask in the glory of her senior year while going after a fourth national title. She knows that the money, the adulation, will be there. Her game is just too good.

“They can give me all the criticism in the world,” she said with a disarming smile, “because they’ll be on the bandwagon tomorrow.”

This is a bandwagon that the WNBA, and hopefully the Liberty, will make the most of there is plenty of room for men and women, boys and girls, alike.