1997 Phoenix Mercury season

Last updated

1997 Phoenix Mercury season
Coach Cheryl Miller
Arena America West Arena
Attendance13,703 per game
Results
Record1612 (.571)
Place1st (Western)
Playoff finishLost WNBA Semifinals

The 1997 WNBA season was the first for the Phoenix Mercury.

Contents

Transactions

WNBA allocation draft

PlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country
Jennifer Gillom Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Ole Miss
Michele Timms Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia WTV Wuppertal (Germany)

WNBA elite draft

RoundPickPlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country
17 Bridget Pettis Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Florida
215 Nancy Lieberman-Cline Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Old Dominion

WNBA draft

RoundPickPlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country
18 Toni Foster Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Iowa
29 Tia Jackson Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Iowa
324 Umeki Webb Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States NC State
425 Monique Ambers Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Arizona State

Transactions

DateTransaction
January 22, 1997Drafted Jennifer Gillom and Michele Timms in the 1997 WNBA Allocation Draft [1]
January 27, 1997Hired Cheryl Miller as Head Coach [1]
February 27, 1997Drafted Bridget Pettis and Nancy Lieberman-Cline in the 1997 WNBA Elite Draft [1]
April 28, 1997Drafted Toni Foster, Tia Jackson, Umeki Webb and Monique Ambers in the 1997 WNBA Draft [1]
May 22, 1997Signed Marlies Askamp and Tara Williams [1]
June 20, 1997Waived Ryneldi Becenti [1]
July 22, 1997Waived Molly Tuter [1]
Signed Ryneldi Becenti [1]
July 31, 1997Traded future considerations to the Sacramento Monarchs in exchange for Mikiko Hagiwara [1]

Roster

1997 Phoenix Mercury roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
F 42 Flag of the United States.svg Ambers, Monique 6' 4" (1.93m)1970-12-21 Arizona State R
C 14 Flag of Germany.svg Askamp, Marlies 6' 5" (1.96m)198 lb (90kg)1970-07-08R
G 4 Flag of the United States.svg Becenti, Ryneldi 5' 6" (1.68m)1971-08-11 Arizona State R
F/C 0 Flag of the United States.svg Foster, Toni 6' 1" (1.85m)175 lb (79kg)1971-11-16 Iowa R
F/C 22 Flag of the United States.svg Gillom, Jennifer 6' 3" (1.91m)180 lb (82kg)1964-06-13 Mississippi R
G 24 Flag of Japan.svg Hagiwara, Mikiko 5' 9" (1.75m)160 lb (73kg)1970-04-27R
F 3 Flag of the United States.svg Jackson, Tia 6' 0" (1.83m)148 lb (67kg)1972-04-21 Iowa R
G 10 Flag of the United States.svg Lieberman-Cline, Nancy 5' 10" (1.78m)150 lb (68kg)1958-07-01 Old Dominion R
G 32 Flag of the United States.svg Pettis, Bridget 5' 9" (1.75m)150 lb (68kg)1971-01-01 Florida R
G 7 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Timms, Michele 5' 7" (1.7m)132 lb (60kg)1965-06-28R
G 24 Flag of the United States.svg Tuter, Molly1975-08-25 Arizona State R
G/F 21 Flag of the United States.svg Webb, Umeki 5' 10" (1.78m)162 lb (73kg)1975-06-26 NC State R
G 31 Flag of the United States.svg Williams, Tara 5' 11" (1.8m)170 lb (77kg)1974-07-23 Auburn R
Head coach
Flag of the United States.svg Cheryl Miller (USC)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured

Schedule

Regular season

1997 game log
Total: 16–12 (Home: 11–3; Road: 5–9)
June: 2–2 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Record
1June 22 Charlotte W 76–59 Bridget Pettis (17) Toni Foster (8) Michele Timms (6) America West Arena 1–0
2June 24@ Houston L 55–72 Toni Foster (13) Askamp
Foster
Webb (5)
Umeki Webb (4) The Summit 1–1
3June 26@ Cleveland W 68–63 Gillom
Pettis (14)
Foster
Webb (7)
Michele Timms (4) Gund Arena 2–1
4June 29@ New York L 57–65 Jennifer Gillom (23) Gillom
Webb (10)
Michele Timms (5) Madison Square Garden 2–2
1997 season schedule

Playoffs

1997 playoff game log
Semifinal vs. New York Liberty
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Record
1August 28 New York L 41–59 Askamp
Gillom (9)
Jennifer Gillom (7) Pettis
Webb (2)
America West Arena 0–1
1997 playoff schedule

Season standings

Western Conference WLPCTConf.GB
Phoenix Mercury x1612.5719–3
Los Angeles Sparks o1414.5008–42.0
Sacramento Monarchs o1018.3574–86.0
Utah Starzz o721.2503–99.0

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
Michele Timms 272735.8.336.345.7603.75.02.60.112.1
Jennifer Gillom 282831.2.434.313.7775.40.81.30.515.7
Bridget Pettis 282830.1.334.306.8983.82.81.80.412.6
Umeki Webb 281727.7.2970.67.6874.22.42.40.35.0
Toni Foster 282826.3.468.167.7046.11.01.90.88.8
Marlies Askamp 28118.5.393.000.7635.20.80.80.37.5
Mikiko Hagiwara 12515.5.256.286.5001.20.80.20.02.8
Tia Jackson 26612.3.342.375.8402.21.00.90.32.8
Nancy Lieberman-Cline 25011.2.325.231.8001.31.60.60.12.6
Ryneldi Becenti 108.0N/AN/AN/A0.00.01.00.00.0
Tara Williams 1207.0.410.455N/A0.70.30.30.03.1
Monique Ambers 1904.5.444N/A.4001.10.20.00.10.7
Molly Tuter301.0.000N/AN/A0.00.00.00.00.0


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

Awards and honors

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "1997 Phoenix Mercury Transactions". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  2. "WNBA.com: Postseason Awards: 1997". www.wnba.com.
  3. "1997 WNBA Season Summary - Basketball-Reference.com". Basketball-Reference.com.