1997 Houston Comets season

Last updated

1997 Houston Comets season
Coach Van Chancellor
Arena The Summit
Attendance9,703 per game
Results
Record1810 (.643)
Place1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishWon WNBA Finals

The 1997 WNBA season was the first season for the Houston Comets. The Comets won the inaugural WNBA Finals.

Contents

Transactions

WNBA allocation draft

PlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country
Cynthia Cooper Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States USC
Sheryl Swoopes Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Texas Tech

WNBA elite draft

RoundPickPlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country
15 Wanda Guyton Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States South Florida
213 Janeth Arcain Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil Brazil

WNBA draft

RoundPickPlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country
11 Tina Thompson Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States USC
216 Tammy Jackson Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Florida
317Racquel SpurlockFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States Louisiana Tech
432 Catarina Pollini Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Texas

Transactions

DateTransaction
January 22, 1997Drafted Cynthia Cooper and Sheryl Swoopes in the 1997 WNBA Allocation Draft [1]
February 27, 1997Drafted Wanda Guyton and Janeth Arcain in the 1997 WNBA Elite Draft [1]
April 28, 1997Drafted Tina Thompson, Tammy Jackson, Racquel Spurlock and Catarina Pollini in the 1997 WNBA Draft [1]
Hired Van Chancellor as Head Coach [1]

Roster

1997 Houston Comets roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
G 9 Flag of Brazil.svg Arcain, Janeth 5' 11" (1.8m)147 lb (67kg)1969-04-11R
G 14 Flag of the United States.svg Cooper, Cynthia 5' 10" (1.78m)150 lb (68kg)1963-04-14 USC R
G/F 8 Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg Gay, Pietra 5' 11" (1.8m)1974-08-21 LSU R
C 4 Flag of the United States.svg Guyton, Wanda 6' 1" (1.85m)178 lb (81kg)1968-10-14 South Florida R
G/F 20 Flag of the United States.svg Harris, Fran 6' 0" (1.83m)153 lb (69kg)1965-03-12 Texas R
F/C 23 Flag of the United States.svg Jackson, Tammy 6' 2" (1.88m)190 lb (86kg)1962-12-03 Florida R
F/C 33 Flag of the United States.svg Moore, Yolanda 6' 0" (1.83m)175 lb (79kg)1974-07-01 Mississippi R
G 10 Flag of the United States.svg Perrot, Kim 5' 5" (1.65m)130 lb (59kg)1967-01-18 Louisiana R
F 11 Flag of Italy.svg Pollini, Catarina 6' 5" (1.96m)1966-03-16 Texas R
G/F 22 Flag of the United States.svg Swoopes, Sheryl 6' 0" (1.83m)145 lb (66kg)1971-03-25 Texas Tech R
F 7 Flag of the United States.svg Thompson, Tina 6' 2" (1.88m)178 lb (81kg)1975-02-10 USC R
G 5 Flag of the United States.svg Woosley, Tiffany 5' 7" (1.7m)132 lb (60kg)1973-04-26 Tennessee R
Head coach
Flag of the United States.svg Van Chancellor (Mississippi State)
Assistant coaches
Flag of the United States.svg Peggie Gillom




Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured

Schedule

Regular season

1997 game log
Total: 18–10 (Home: 9–5; Road: 9–5)
June: 4–1 (Home: 2–1; Road: 2–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Record
1June 21@ Cleveland W 76–56 Cynthia Cooper (25) Cynthia Cooper (8) Cynthia Cooper (2) Gund Arena 1–0
2June 24 Phoenix W 72–55 Janeth Arcain (23) Janeth Arcain (8) Cynthia Cooper (3) The Summit 2–0
3June 26 New York L 60–62 (OT) Cynthia Cooper (20) Wanda Guyton (9) Cynthia Cooper (3) The Summit 2–1
4June 28@ Utah W 76–58 Cynthia Cooper (20) Wanda Guyton (9) Cynthia Cooper (3) Delta Center 3–1
5June 30 Los Angeles W 71–66 (OT) Janeth Arcain (17) Tammy Jackson (8) Cynthia Cooper (5) The Summit 4–1
August : 8–4 (Home: 4–2; Road: 4–2)
1997 season schedule

Playoffs

1997 playoff game log
Semifinal vs. Charlotte Sting
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Series
1August 28 Charlotte W 54–70 Cynthia Cooper (31) Tina Thompson (12) Cynthia Cooper (5) The Summit 1–0
Championship vs. New York Liberty
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Series
1 August 30 New York W 65–51 Cynthia Cooper (25) Tammy Jackson (11) Cynthia Cooper (4) The Summit 1–0
1997 playoff schedule

Season standings

Eastern Conference WLPCTConf.GB
Houston Comets x1810.6436–6
New York Liberty x1711.6078–41.0
Charlotte Sting x1513.5365–73.0
Cleveland Rockers o1513.5365–73.0

Statistics

Legend
  GPGames 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 gameTeam leaderLeague leader

Regular Season

PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
Cynthia Cooper 282835.1.470.414.8644.04.72.10.222.2
Tina Thompson 282831.6.418.370.8386.61.10.82.213.2
Janeth Arcain 282728.0.440.273.8943.91.61.52.410.9
Wanda Guyton 252526.7.467N/A.5595.40.51.01.76.1
Kim Perrot 282424.7.364.283.4052.73.12.52.35.8
Tammy Jackson 28319.5.409.000.6104.10.41.61.84.1
Tiffany Woosley 26415.3.330.320.2501.11.10.71.22.9
Fran Harris 25114.8.346.333.7102.21.00.71.24.2
Sheryl Swoopes 9014.3.472.250.7141.70.80.80.47.1
Yolanda Moore 1307.2.250N/A.5001.00.10.10.51.2
Catarina Pollini 1307.2.364N/A.5000.90.40.30.71.7
Pietra Gay502.4.500N/A.4000.60.40.20.80.8


Waived/Released during the season
Traded during the season
Acquired during the season

Awards and honors

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "1997 Houston Comets Transactions". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "1997 WNBA Season Summary".
  3. "Postseason Awards: 1997". WNBA.com. Retrieved September 4, 2022.