WNBA 2001

	Women's National Basketball Association
	◄ previous	2001 season	next ►
Duration		May 28th - September 1st
Season games per team		32
Number of teams		16
Spectators (total)		2,322,962 (∅: 9,074 per game)
Regular season
Best record		Los Angeles Sparks
Season MVP		Lisa Leslie
Top scorer		Katie Smith
Playoffs
Eastern - Champion		Charlotte Sting
Runner-up team		New York Liberty
Western - Champion		Los Angeles Sparks
Runner-up team		Sacramento Monarchs
Finals
WNBA champion		Los Angeles Sparks
Runner-up		Charlotte Sting
Finals MVP		Lisa Leslie

The 2001 season of the Women's National Basketball Association was the fifth played season of the North American professional women's basketball league . The regular season began on May 28, 2001 with the opening game between the Los Angeles Sparks and the Houston Comets . After the end of the regular season, which was played until August 14, 2001, the playoffs for the WNBA championship began, which the Los Angeles Sparks decided on September 1 in the second final game against the Charlotte Sting for themselves. In addition, the third WNBA All-Star Game took place on July 16, 2001 at the TD Waterhouse Center , the home ground of the Orlando Miracle , in Orlando .

Draft

→ Main article : WNBA Draft 2001

The fifth WNBA Draft took place on April 20, 2001 at NBA Entertainment Studios in Secaucus , New Jersey . The order of selection in the WNBA Draft was determined by a lottery . These won the Seattle Storm before the Charlotte Sting .

Seattle picked Australian Lauren Jackson from Canberra Capitals in first place. In addition, Utah Starzz decided in the second round (24th place) for the Czech Michaela Pavlickova from the University of Denver and the New York Liberty in the fourth round (57th place) for the Finn Taru Tuukkanen from Xavier University . In total, the sixteen franchises secured the rights to 64 players. The United States made up the lion's share with 53 players.

Top 5 picks

Abbreviations: Pos = Position, G = Guard, F = Forward, C = Center, WNBL = Women's National Basketball League

#	Player	nationality	Item	WNBA team	College / professional team
1.	Lauren Jackson	Australia	C / F	Seattle Storm	Canberra Capitals (WNBL)
2.	Kelly Miller	United States	G	Charlotte Sting	University of Georgia
3.	Tamika catchings	United States	F.	Indiana Fever	University of Tennessee
4th	Jackie Stiles	United States	G	Portland Fire	Missouri State University
5.	Ruth Riley	United States	C.	Miami Sol	University of Notre Dame

Regular season

Closing tables

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	home	Away
1.	Cleveland Rockers	32	22nd	10	68.8	-	14: 2	8: 8
2.	New York Liberty	32	21st	11	65.6	1	13: 3	8: 8
3.	Miami Sol	32	20th	12	62.5	2	10: 6	10: 6
4th	Charlotte Sting	32	18th	14th	56.3	4th	11: 5	7: 9
5.	Orlando Miracle	32	13	19th	40.6	9	10: 6	3:13
6th	Indiana Fever	32	10	22nd	31.3	12	7: 9	3:13
7th	Detroit Shock	32	10	22nd	31.3	12	6:10	4:12
8th.	Washington Mystics	32	10	22nd	31.3	12	8: 8	2:14

Pl.	Western Conference	Sp.	S.	N	Wins in%	GB	home	Away
1.	Los Angeles Sparks	32	28	4th	87.5	-	16: 0	12: 4
2.	Sacramento Monarchs	32	20th	12	62.5	8th	12: 4	8: 8
3.	Utah Starzz	32	19th	13	59.4	9	9: 7	10: 6
4th	Houston Comets	32	19th	13	59.4	9	11: 5	8: 8
5.	Phoenix Mercury	32	13	19th	40.6	15th	10: 6	3:13
6th	Minnesota Lynx	32	12	20th	37.5	16	6:10	6:10
7th	Portland Fire	32	11	21st	34.4	17th	6:10	5:11
8th.	Seattle Storm	32	10	22nd	31.3	18th	5:11	5:11

Playoffs

Playoff tree

	Conference semifinals					Conference Finals					WNBA Finals
	1	Cleveland Rockers	1
	4th	Charlotte Sting	2
						4th	Charlotte Sting	2
	Eastern Conference
						2	New York Liberty	1
	2	New York Liberty	2
	3	Miami Sol	1
											E4	Charlotte Sting	0
											W1	Los Angeles Sparks	2
	1	Los Angeles Sparks	2
	4th	Houston Comets	0
						1	Los Angeles Sparks	2
	Western Conference
						2	Sacramento Monarchs	1
	2	Sacramento Monarchs	2
	3	Utah Starzz	0

Conference semifinals (round 1)

Eastern Conference

(1) Cleveland Rockers - (4) Charlotte Sting

Aug 16, 2001		Charlotte Sting	53-46	Cleveland Rockers	Charlotte Coliseum , Charlotte, North Carolina
		Stand: 1: 0

Aug 18, 2001		Cleveland Rockers	69 - 51	Charlotte Sting	Gund Arena , Cleveland, Ohio
		Stand: 1: 1

Aug 20, 2001		Cleveland Rockers	64 - 72	Charlotte Sting	Gund Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
		Final score: 1: 2

(2) New York Liberty - (3) Miami Sol

Aug 17, 2001		Miami Sol	46-62	New York Liberty	American Airlines Arena , Miami, Florida
		Stand: 0: 1

Aug 19, 2001		New York Liberty	50-53	Miami Sol	Madison Square Garden , New York City, New York
		Stand: 1: 1

Aug 21, 2001		New York Liberty	72-61	Miami Sol	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
		Final score: 2: 1

Western Conference

(1) Los Angeles Sparks - (4) Houston Comets

Aug 18, 2001		Houston Comets	59-64	Los Angeles Sparks	Compaq Center , Houston, Texas
		Stand: 0: 1

Aug 20, 2001		Los Angeles Sparks	70-58	Houston Comets	Staples Center , Los Angeles, California
		Final score : 2-0

(2) Sacramento Monarchs - (3) Utah Starzz

Aug 17, 2001		Utah Starzz	65 - 89	Sacramento Monarchs	Delta Center , Salt Lake City, Utah
		Stand: 0: 1

Aug 19, 2001		Sacramento Monarchs	71-66	Utah Starzz	ARCO Arena , Sacramento, California
		Final score : 2-0

Conference Finals (Round 2)

Eastern Conference

(2) New York Liberty - (4) Charlotte Sting

Aug 24, 2001		Charlotte Sting	57-61	New York Liberty	Charlotte Coliseum , Charlotte, North Carolina
		Stand: 0: 1

Aug 26, 2001		New York Liberty	53-62	Charlotte Sting	Madison Square Garden , New York City, New York
		Stand: 1: 1

Aug 27, 2001		New York Liberty	44-48	Charlotte Sting	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
		Final score: 1: 2

Western Conference

(1) Los Angeles Sparks - (2) Sacramento Monarchs

Aug 24, 2001		Sacramento Monarchs	73-74	Los Angeles Sparks	ARCO Arena , Sacramento, California
		Stand: 0: 1

Aug 26, 2001		Los Angeles Sparks	60-80	Sacramento Monarchs	Staples Center , Los Angeles, California
		Stand: 1: 1

Aug 27, 2001		Los Angeles Sparks	93-62	Sacramento Monarchs	Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
		Final score: 2: 1

Finals (round 3)

(W1) Los Angeles Sparks - (E4) Charlotte Sting

Aug 30, 2001	Match report ( Memento from October 6, 2001 in the Internet Archive )	Charlotte Sting	66-75	Los Angeles Sparks	Charlotte Coliseum , Charlotte, North Carolina Visitors: 16,132
		Points per half: 39:35, 27:40.
		Points: Stinson (18) Rebounds: Feaster (5) Assists: Stinson (5)		Points: Leslie (24) Rebounds: Leslie, Milton-Jones (8) Assists: Milton-Jones (5)
		Stand: 0: 1

0Sep 1 2001	Match report ( Memento from October 31, 2001 in the Internet Archive )	Los Angeles Sparks	82-54	Charlotte Sting	Staples Center , Los Angeles, California Visitors: 13,141
		Points per half: 38:30, 44:24.
		Points: Leslie (24) Rebounds: Leslie (13) Assists: Dixon (7)		Points: Sutton-Brown (12) Rebounds: Smith (8) Assists: Staley (5)
		Final score: 2-0 Finals MVP: Lisa Leslie

WNBA championship team

(Participation in at least one playoff game)

WNBA Masters Los Angeles Sparks

Guards: Tamecka Dixon , Ukari Figgs , Nicole Levandusky , Nicky McCrimmon , Wendi Willits Forwards: Latasha Byears , Vedrana Grgin Fonseca , Mwadi Mabika , DeLisha Milton-Jones Center: Lisa Leslie (Finals MVP) , Rhonda Mapp Head Coach: Michael Cooper

WNBA awards and trophies awarded

Award	Player	team
WNBA Finals MVP Award	Lisa Leslie	Los Angeles Sparks
WNBA Most Valuable Player Award	Lisa Leslie	Los Angeles Sparks
WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award	Debbie Black	Miami Sol
WNBA Most Improved Player Award	Janeth Arcain	Houston Comets
WNBA Peak Performer (throwing rate)	Latasha Byears	Los Angeles Sparks
WNBA Peak Performer (Free Throw Rate)	Elena Baranova	Miami Sol
WNBA Rookie of the Year Award	Jackie Stiles	Portland Fire
Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award	Sue Wicks	New York Liberty
WNBA Coach of the Year Award	Dan Hughes	Cleveland Rockers

All-WNBA teams

All-WNBA First Team
Guards:	Janeth Arcain - Merlakia Jones
Forwards:	Natalie Williams - (MIN) Katie Smith
Center:	Lisa Leslie

All-WNBA Second Team
Guards:	Tamecka Dixon - (SAC) Ticha Penicheiro
Forwards:	Tina Thompson - Chamique Holdsclaw
Center:	(SAC) Yolanda Griffith

Web links

• WNBA Award Winners 2001 on WNBA.com (English)
• WNBA Playoffs 2001 on WNBA.com (English)
• Statistics for the WNBA 2001 season on basketball-reference.com (English)
• Key dates in the WNBA history (English)