WNBA 1997
|
Women's National Basketball Association | ||
| 1997 season | next ► | ||
| Duration | June 21st - August 30th | ||
| Season games per team | 28 | ||
| Number of teams | 8th | ||
| Spectators (total) | 1,082,963 (∅: 9,669 per game) | ||
| Regular season | |||
| Best record |
 Houston Comets
|
||
| Season MVP |
 Cynthia Cooper
|
||
| Top scorer |
Cynthia Cooper
|
||
| final | |||
| WNBA champion |
Houston Comets
|
||
| Runner-up | New York Liberty | ||
| Final MVP |
Cynthia Cooper
|
||
The 1997 season of the Women's National Basketball Association was the first played season of the North American professional women's basketball league. The regular season began on June 21, 1997 with the opening games between the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks , as well as the Houston Comets and the Cleveland Rockers as well as the Sacramento Monarchs and the Utah Starzz . After completion of the regular season, which was played until August 24, 1997, the playoffs began for the WNBA championship, which the Houston Comets decided on August 30 in the final against the New York Liberty for themselves.
Draft
- Main article: WNBA Draft 1997
The first WNBA draft took place on April 28, 1997 in Secaucus , New Jersey , United States . The Houston Comets selected Tina Thompson from the United States in first place . The best non-US-American was the Czech Eva Nemcova , who was selected by the Cleveland Rockers , in fourth place . A total of eight franchises secured the rights to 32 players. The United States made up the majority with 29 players .
Before the first WNBA draft, the Initial Player Allocation , where two players were randomly allocated to each team, and the Elite Draft , in which the franchises were able to secure the rights to players with experience at international professional clubs in two rounds , two more drafts take place. As the first pick in the Elite Draft , the Utah Starzz pulled the American Dena Head . After that, the Cleveland Rockers chose Isabelle Fijalkowski in second place .
Top 5 picks
Abbreviations: Pos = Position, G = Guard, F = Forward, C = Center
| Elite draft | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Player | nationality | Item | WNBA team | College / professional team |
| 1. | Dena Head |
United States
|
G |
 Utah Starzz
|
University of Tennessee |
| 2. | Isabelle Fijalkowski |
 France
|
C / F |
 Cleveland Rockers
|
University of Colorado at Boulder |
| 3. | Rhonda Mapp |
United States
|
C / F | Charlotte Sting | North Carolina State University |
| 4th | Kym Hampton |
United States
|
C / F | New York Liberty | Arizona State University |
| 5. | Wanda Guyton |
United States
|
F. |
Houston Comets
|
University of South Florida |
| WNBA Draft | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Player | nationality | Item | WNBA team | College / professional team |
| 1. | Tina Thompson |
United States
|
F. |
Houston Comets
|
University of Southern California |
| 2. | Pamela McGee |
United States
|
C. | Sacramento Monarchs | University of Southern California |
| 3. | Jamila Wideman |
United States
|
G |
 Los Angeles Sparks
|
Stanford University |
| 4th | Eva Nemcova |
 Czech Republic
|
G |
Cleveland Rockers
|
unknown |
| 5. | Tammi Reiss |
United States
|
G |
Utah Starzz
|
University of Virginia |
Regular season
WNBA All-Star Game
The WNBA's traditional all-star game wasn't introduced until 1999 .
Closing table
Abbreviations: Pl. = Place, Sp. = Games, S = wins, N = defeats, GB = games behind the leader of the conference
Explanations: = Playoff qualification, = Conference winner
| Pl. | Eastern Conference | Sp. | S. | N | Wins in% | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
Houston Comets
|
28 | 18th | 10 | 64.3 | - |
| 2. | New York Liberty | 28 | 17th | 11 | 60.7 | 1 |
| 3. | Charlotte Sting | 28 | 15th | 13 | 53.6 | 3 |
| 4th |
Cleveland Rockers
|
28 | 15th | 13 | 53.6 | 3 |
| Pl. | Western Conference | Sp. | S. | N | Wins in% | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
 Phoenix Mercury
|
28 | 16 | 12 | 57.1 | - |
| 2. |
Los Angeles Sparks
|
28 | 14th | 14th | 50.0 | 2 |
| 3. | Sacramento Monarchs | 28 | 10 | 18th | 35.7 | 6th |
| 4th |
Utah Starzz
|
28 | 7th | 21st | 25.0 | 9 |
Playoffs
mode
After the two Conference winner, and the other two teams have qualified with the best record in the league, start the knock-out system discharged playoffs . The conference winners are placed in positions 1 to 2 in descending order according to their victories from the regular season. The other teams follow in positions 3 and 4, although it is quite possible that one or more teams have won more games than one of the conference winners.
A single game decides on promotion to the next round, whereby the higher-ranked team has home rights. For games that are tied after the regular playing time of 40 minutes, overtime follows.
Playoff tree
| Semifinals | final | |||||||
| E1 |
Houston Comets
|
70 | ||||||
| E3 | Charlotte Sting | 54 | ||||||
| E1 |
Houston Comets
|
65 | ||||||
| E2 | New York Liberty | 51 | ||||||
| W1 |
Phoenix Mercury
|
41 | ||||||
| E2 | New York Liberty | 59 | ||||||
Semi-finals (round 1)
(E1) Houston Comets - (E3) Charlotte Sting
| Aug 28, 1997 | Match report ( Memento from February 8, 1998 in the Internet Archive ) |
Houston Comets
|
70-54 | Charlotte Sting | Houston, Texas Visitors: 11,510 |
| Points per half: 29:33, 41:21. | |||||
|
Points: Cooper (31) Rebounds: Thompson (12) Assists: Cooper (5) |
Points: Mapp , Congreaves (12) Rebounds: Bullet (9) Assists: Mapp, Levesque , Stinson (3) |
||||
(W1) Phoenix Mercury - (E2) New York Liberty
| Aug 28, 1997 | Match report ( Memento from February 8, 1998 in the Internet Archive ) |
Phoenix Mercury |
41 - 59 | New York Liberty | Phoenix, Arizona Visitors: 16,751 |
| Points per half: 18:23, 23:36. | |||||
|
Points: Gillom , Askamp (9) Rebounds: Gillom (7) Assists: Webb , Pettis (2) |
Points: Lobo (16) Rebounds: Hampton (14) Assists: Weatherspoon (5) |
||||
Final (Round 2)
(E1) Houston Comets - (E2) New York Liberty
| Aug 30, 1997 | Match report ( Memento from February 8, 1998 in the Internet Archive ) |
Houston Comets
|
65 - 51 | New York Liberty | Houston, Texas Visitors: 16,285 |
| Points per half: 28:24, 37:27. | |||||
|
Points: Cooper (25) Rebounds: Jackson (11) Assists: Cooper (4) |
Points: Hampton (13) Rebounds: Hampton (13) Assists: Weatherspoon (5) |
||||
| Finals MVP: Cynthia Cooper | |||||
WNBA championship team
(Participation in at least one playoff game)
WNBA Masters Houston Comets |
Guards: Cynthia Cooper (Finals MVP) , Kim Perrot , Tiffany Woosley Forwards: Janeth Arcain , Wanda Guyton , Yolanda Moore , Sheryl Swoopes , Tina Thompson Forward Center: Tammy Jackson Head coach: Van Chancellor |
WNBA awards and trophies awarded
All-WNBA teams
| All-WNBA First Team | |
| Guards: |
(SAC) Ruthie Bolton - Cynthia Cooper
|
| Forwards: |
Tina Thompson - Eva Nemcova
|
| Center: |
Lisa Leslie
|
| All-WNBA Second Team | |
| Guards: | (NYL) Teresa Weatherspoon - (CHA) Andrea Stinson |
| Forwards: |
Wendy Palmer - (NYL) Rebecca Lobo
|
| Center: |
Jennifer Gillom
|