1997 Houston Comets season | |
---|---|
Coach | Van Chancellor |
Arena | The Summit |
Attendance | 9,703 per game |
Results | |
Record | 18–10 (.643) |
Place | 1st (Eastern) |
Playoff finish | Won WNBA Finals |
The 1997 WNBA season was the first season for the Houston Comets. The Comets won the inaugural WNBA Finals.
Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
---|---|---|
Cynthia Cooper | United States | USC |
Sheryl Swoopes | United States | Texas Tech |
Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | Wanda Guyton | United States | South Florida |
2 | 13 | Janeth Arcain | Brazil | Brazil |
Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Tina Thompson | United States | USC |
2 | 16 | Tammy Jackson | United States | Florida |
3 | 17 | Racquel Spurlock | United States | Louisiana Tech |
4 | 32 | Catarina Pollini | Italy | Texas |
Date | Transaction | |
---|---|---|
January 22, 1997 | Drafted Cynthia Cooper and Sheryl Swoopes in the 1997 WNBA Allocation Draft [1] | |
February 27, 1997 | Drafted Wanda Guyton and Janeth Arcain in the 1997 WNBA Elite Draft [1] | |
April 28, 1997 | Drafted Tina Thompson, Tammy Jackson, Racquel Spurlock and Catarina Pollini in the 1997 WNBA Draft [1] | |
Hired Van Chancellor as Head Coach [1] |
1997 Houston Comets roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
1997 playoff game log | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Semifinal vs. Charlotte Sting
| ||||||||||||||||||
Championship vs. New York Liberty
| ||||||||||||||||||
1997 playoff schedule |
Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | Conf. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Houston Comets x | 18 | 10 | .643 | 6–6 | – |
New York Liberty x | 17 | 11 | .607 | 8–4 | 1.0 |
Charlotte Sting x | 15 | 13 | .536 | 5–7 | 3.0 |
Cleveland Rockers o | 15 | 13 | .536 | 5–7 | 3.0 |
Legend | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | TO | Turnovers per game |
PF | Fouls per game | Team leader | League leader |
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cynthia Cooper | 28 | 28 | 35.1 | .470 | .414 | .864 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 2.1 | 0.2 | 22.2 |
Tina Thompson | 28 | 28 | 31.6 | .418 | .370 | .838 | 6.6 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 13.2 |
Janeth Arcain | 28 | 27 | 28.0 | .440 | .273 | .894 | 3.9 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 10.9 |
Wanda Guyton | 25 | 25 | 26.7 | .467 | N/A | .559 | 5.4 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 6.1 |
Kim Perrot | 28 | 24 | 24.7 | .364 | .283 | .405 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 5.8 |
Tammy Jackson | 28 | 3 | 19.5 | .409 | .000 | .610 | 4.1 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 4.1 |
Tiffany Woosley | 26 | 4 | 15.3 | .330 | .320 | .250 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 2.9 |
Fran Harris | 25 | 1 | 14.8 | .346 | .333 | .710 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 4.2 |
Sheryl Swoopes | 9 | 0 | 14.3 | .472 | .250 | .714 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 7.1 |
Yolanda Moore | 13 | 0 | 7.2 | .250 | N/A | .500 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 1.2 |
Catarina Pollini | 13 | 0 | 7.2 | .364 | N/A | .500 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.7 |
Pietra Gay | 5 | 0 | 2.4 | .500 | N/A | .400 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
‡Waived/Released during the season
†Traded during the season
≠Acquired during the season
The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two teams in the WNBA that are undefeated in the WNBA Finals; the Seattle Storm are the other. The Comets were the first dynasty of the WNBA and are tied with the Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm for the most championships of any WNBA franchise. Despite all of their success, the team was folded and disbanded by the league in 2008 during the height of the Great Recession because new ownership could not be found.
Kim Perrot was an American basketball player. She played in the WNBA for the Houston Comets and won three championships, the third being a posthumous honor by the Comets.
Cynthia Lynne Cooper-Dyke is an American basketball coach and former player who has won championships in college, in the Olympics, and in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is considered by many as one of the greatest female basketball players ever. In 2011, Cooper-Dyke was voted by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. Upon the league's formation, she played for the Houston Comets from 1997 to 2000, being named the Most Valuable Player of the WNBA Finals in all four seasons, and returned to play again in 2003. Cooper-Dyke still holds the record for most Finals MVPs with four. On April 30, 2019, she was introduced as the head coach for the Texas Southern Lady Tigers basketball team, a position she held in the 2012–13 season. She has also coached at USC, UNC Wilmington, Prairie View A&M, and, professionally, for the Phoenix Mercury. Cooper-Dyke was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
Tina Marie Thompson is an American former WNBA professional basketball player and coach. Most recently, she served as the head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team from 2018 to 2022. Thompson was inducted into both the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.
Van Winston Chancellor is an American former college and professional basketball coach. He coached University of Mississippi women's basketball, Louisiana State University women's basketball, and the professional Houston Comets. He was named head coach of the Lady Tigers on April 11, 2007, replacing Pokey Chatman. In 2001, Chancellor was elected to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was enshrined as a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2007. Chancellor currently serves as an analyst for Southland Conference games on ESPN3.
The 1997 WNBA Season was the Women's National Basketball Association's inaugural season. It started off with 8 franchises: Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets, Los Angeles Sparks, New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs, and the Utah Starzz. It featured an inaugural game between the New York Liberty and the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks lost to the New York Liberty, 67–57. The attendance at the Forum was 14,284. The season ended with the Comets defeating the Liberty in a one-game series 65–51. Cynthia Cooper was named MVP of the game.
The 2008 Los Angeles Sparks season was the 12th season for the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks returned to the postseason for the first time since 2006.
The 1999 WNBA season was the third season for the Houston Comets. The Comets won their third WNBA Finals.
The 1997 WNBA season was the first season for the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks finished in second place in the Western Division with a record of 14 wins and 14 losses.
The 1997 WNBA season was the first season for the New York Liberty.
The 1997 WNBA season was the first for the Phoenix Mercury.
The 1997 WNBA season was the inaugural season for the Utah Starzz. The Starzz were partially named after the old ABA team, the Utah Stars, but with the zz at the end like the Utah Jazz. The franchise held the distinction of having the worst record in the WNBA in 1997.
The 1997 WNBA season was the inaugural season for the Sacramento Monarchs.
The 1997 WNBA season was the inaugural season for the Cleveland Rockers.
The 1997 WNBA Championship was the championship game of the 1997 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Houston Comets, top-seeded team of the league, defeated the New York Liberty, second-seeded team, 65-51 to win the league's inaugural championship.
The 1998 WNBA Championship was the championship series of the 1998 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Houston Comets, top-seeded team of the league, defeated the Phoenix Mercury, third-seeded team of the league, two games to one in a best-of-three series. This was Houston's second straight title.
Mistie McCray Bass is an American former professional women's basketball player.
The USC Trojans women's basketball team, or the Women of Troy, is the collegiate women's basketball team that represents the University of Southern California, in the Big Ten Conference. The team rose to prominence in 1976, at which time scholarships became available to female basketball players. They were the first Division I team to give these scholarships.
Pollyanna Casanga Johns Kimbrough, formerly Pollyanna Johns is an American former basketball player. She was born in Nassau, Bahamas, grew up in Jamaica and moved to the United States at age 13. She played for six seasons as a center and forward in the WNBA for the Charlotte Sting (1998), Cleveland Rockers, Miami Sol (2002), and Houston Comets (2004).