1997 Utah Starzz season

Last updated

1997 Utah Starzz season
Coach Denise Taylor
Arena Delta Center
Attendance7,611 per game
Results
Record7–21 (.250)
Place4th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify

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.

Contents

Transactions

WNBA allocation draft

PlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country
Elena Baranova Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union CSKA Moscow (Russia)
Lady Hardmon Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Georgia

WNBA elite draft

RoundPickPlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country
11 Dena Head Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Tennessee
29 Wendy Palmer Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Virginia

WNBA draft

RoundPickPlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country
15 Tammi Reiss Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Virginia
212 Jessie Hicks Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Maryland
321 Raegan Scott Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Colorado
428 Kim Williams Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States DePaul

Transactions

DateTransaction
January 22, 1997Drafted Elena Baranova and Lady Hardmon in the 1997 WNBA Allocation Draft [1]
February 27, 1997Drafted Dena Head and Wendy Palmer in the 1997 WNBA Elite Draft [1]
April 19, 1997Hired Denise Taylor as Head Coach [1]
April 28, 1997Drafted Tammi Reiss, Jessie Hicks, Raegan Scott and Kim Williams in the 1997 WNBA Draft [1]
June 20, 1997Waived Megan Compain [1]

Roster

1997 Utah Starzz roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
F 28 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Baranova, Elena 6' 5" (1.96m)182 lb (83kg)1972-01-28R
C 40 Flag of the United States.svg Booker, Karen 6' 1" (1.85m)170 lb (77kg)1965-04-10 Vanderbilt R
G/F 34 Flag of the United States.svg Carter, Deborah 6' 1" (1.85m)185 lb (84kg)1972-01-03 Georgia R
G 22 Flag of New Zealand.svg Compain, Megan 5' 9" (1.75m)–1975-09-18 Saint Joseph's R
F 27 Flag of the United States.svg Hardmon, Lady 5' 10" (1.78m)160 lb (73kg)1975-09-12 Georgia R
G 11 Flag of the United States.svg Head, Dena 5' 10" (1.78m)175 lb (79kg)1970-08-16 Tennessee R
F/C 25 Flag of the United States.svg Hicks, Jessie 6' 4" (1.93m)188 lb (85kg)1971-12-02 Maryland R
F 15 Flag of the United States.svg Koss, Greta 6' 1" (1.85m)145 lb (66kg)1974-06-12 Montana R
F 14 Flag of the United States.svg Palmer, Wendy 6' 2" (1.88m)165 lb (75kg)1974-08-12 Virginia R
G 32 Flag of the United States.svg Reiss, Tammi 5' 6" (1.68m)129 lb (59kg)1970-04-02 Virginia R
F/C 52 Flag of the United States.svg Scott, Raegan 6' 3" (1.91m)169 lb (77kg)1975-08-12 Colorado R
G 23 Flag of the United States.svg Williams, Kim 5' 6" (1.68m)136 lb (62kg)1974-10-14 DePaul R
Head coach
Flag of the United States.svg Denise Taylor (Texas Southern)
Assistant coaches
Flag of the United States.svg Greg Williams



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

Schedule

Regular season

1997 game log
Total: 7–21 (Home: 5–10; Road: 2–12)
June: 1–3 (Home: 1–2; Road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
1June 21 Sacramento L 60–70 Tammi Reiss (14) Baranova
Palmer
Reiss (7)		 Lady Hardmon (6) Delta Center 0–1
2June 23 Los Angeles W 102–89 Wendy Palmer (28) Elena Baranova (10) Baranova
Reiss (5)		 Delta Center 1–1
3June 26@ Cleveland L 63–74 Wendy Palmer (15) Wendy Palmer (12) Baranova
Palmer
Williams (4)		 Gund Arena 1–2
4June 28 Houston L 58–76 Wendy Palmer (14) Baranova
Carter (6)		Booker
Palmer (4)		 Delta Center 1–3
July : 3–10 (Home: 1–4; Road: 2–6)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
5July 2@ Sacramento L 73–68 (OT) Wendy Palmer (18) Wendy Palmer (11) Kim Williams (5) ARCO Arena 2–3
6July 3 Phoenix L 55–77 Wendy Palmer (19) Elena Baranova (12) Hicks
Williams (2)		 Delta Center 2–4
7July 5 New York L 53–66 Lady Hardmon (14) Wendy Palmer (10) Kim Williams (4) Delta Center 2–5
8July 7 Sacramento L 69–79 Wendy Palmer (20) Wendy Palmer (6) Lady Hardmon (5) Delta Center 2–6
9July 11@ Los Angeles L 68–75 Wendy Palmer (17) Elena Baranova (8) Baranova
Williams 		Great Western Forum 2–7
10July 12 Phoenix W 52–51 Wendy Palmer (15) Wendy Palmer (10) Lady Hardmon (6) Delta Center 3–7
11July 14@ Houston L 56–79 Lady Hardmon (14) Elena Baranova (13) Kim Williams (10) The Summit 3–8
12July 16@ Charlotte L 63–75 Palmer
Williams (17)		 Tammi Reiss (7) Reiss
Williams (5)		 Charlotte Coliseum 3–9
13July 17@ New York L 54–80 Hardmon
Palmer (14)		 Lady Hardmon (6) Kim Williams (4) Madison Square Garden 3–10
14July 21@ Cleveland L 68–95 Elena Baranova (25) Elena Baranova (7) Baranova
Williams (4)		 Gund Arena 3–11
15July 22@ New York W 78–71 Elena Baranova (23) Wendy Palmer (10) Reiss
Williams (4)		 Madison Square Garden 4–11
16July 26 Cleveland L 66–77 Elena Baranova (26) Elena Baranova (9) Tammi Reiss (5) Delta Center 4–12
17July 30@ Los Angeles L 69–91 Tammi Reiss (15) Wendy Palmer (8) Dena Head (7) Great Western Forum 4–13
August : 3–8 (Home: 3–3; Road: 0–5)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
18August 2 Houston W 74–63 Elena Baranova (17) Elena Baranova (12) Hardmon
Head
Koss (3)		 Delta Center 5–13
19August 4 Charlotte W 73–70 Baranova
Reiss (17)		 Wendy Palmer (9) Tammi Reiss (8) Delta Center 6–13
20August 6@ Phoenix L 46–78 Elena Baranova (16) Baranova
Palmer (5)		 Tammi Reiss (5) America West Arena 6–14
21August 8@ Sacramento L 78–93 Wendy Palmer (25) Wendy Palmer (9) Hardmon
Reiss (4)		 ARCO Arena 6–15
22August 11 Cleveland L 59–74 Tammi Reiss (12) Wendy Palmer (11) Lady Hardmon (5) Delta Center 6–16
23August 12@ Houston L 56–76 Wendy Palmer (18) Wendy Palmer (11) Lady Hardmon (4) The Summit 6–17
24August 16 Los Angeles L 64–74 Wendy Palmer (27) Wendy Palmer (13) Tammi Reiss (4) Delta Center 6–18
25August 17@ Phoenix L 63–71 (OT) Wendy Palmer (21)Greta Koss (11) Tammi Reiss (4) America West Arena 6–19
26August 19 New York W 81–75 Wendy Palmer (19) Wendy Palmer (9) Dena Head (4) Delta Center 7–19
27August 21 Charlotte L 56–66 Wendy Palmer (20) Wendy Palmer (14) Baranova
Head
Palmer
Reiss (3)		 Delta Center 7–20
28August 24@ Charlotte L 52–70 Jessie Hicks (13) Elena Baranova (10) Elena Baranova (4) Charlotte Coliseum 7–21
1997 season 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
Wendy Palmer 282833.4.374.250.6768.01.71.70.215.8
Elena Baranova 282732.6.390.377.6947.42.21.52.312.2
Tammi Reiss 282629.7.312.297.7642.83.10.80.17.7
Lady Hardmon 282424.7.347.100.6553.02.40.80.15.5
Kim Williams 281021.7.384.265.7742.92.11.40.38.1
Greta Koss131020.6.517.667.7502.80.80.70.33.4
Dena Head 27417.4.390.313.8842.31.70.50.35.7
Deborah Carter 18715.9.385.143.7142.70.40.70.13.9
Karen Booker26412.3.333.000.5683.10.90.90.62.3
Jessie Hicks 26010.1.463.000.5631.40.40.50.43.2
Reagan Scott 805.4.385N/A1.0000.90.10.10.41.5
Megan Compain503.8.286,250N/A1.00.40.80.21.0


‡Waived/Released during the season
†Traded during the season
≠Acquired during the season

Awards and honors

[2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elena Baranova</span> Russian basketball player

Elena Viktorovna Baranova is a Russian former professional basketball player. She is a former Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) player, where she became the first player from Europe in 1997 WNBA inaugural season, the first All-Star from Russia in 2001 and played for the New York Liberty until the 2005 season.

Olympia Scott, formerly known under her married name of Olympia Scott-Richardson, is an American former professional basketball player in the WNBA, and a former college coach. She is also co-founder of an online parenting education company called "Super Parenting LLC" and of a coaching company called "A Wonderful Life! Coaching".

Dena Head is an American retired women's basketball player. She is best remembered as the first player drafted in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wendy Palmer</span> American basketball player and coach

Wendy Palmer is a former professional basketball player in the WNBA, and former head coach of the UNCG women's basketball team. Her primary position was forward.

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.

Cynthia Louise "Cindy" Brown is a retired American women's basketball player, at the college, Olympic and professional levels. Brown was a member of the USA Basketball team which went on to win a gold medal at the Pan American Games in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1987, and the gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. She was also a member of the gold medal-winning team for the US at the 1985 World University Games, and the 1986 World Championship team.

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

The 1997 WNBA season was the inaugural season for the Sacramento Monarchs.

The 1997 WNBA season was the inaugural season for the Cleveland Rockers.

Pamela Denise McGee is an American former professional women's basketball player, Olympic gold medalist, and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductee. She is the mother of NBA player JaVale McGee and WNBL player Imani McGee-Stafford.

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).

Tammi Reiss is the head coach of the University of Rhode Island’s women’s basketball team, and a former professional basketball player and American actress. She is currently the head coach for the University of Rhode Island. Reiss is a native of New York state. Reiss graduated from the University of Virginia in 1992 with a major in sports management. As a professional, she was chosen in the first round of the first-ever WNBA draft and played for two years with the Utah Starzz. She is currently the head coach of the University of Rhode Island Lady Rams basketball team.

Jennifer Raegan Pebley is an American basketball coach and former player.

Jessie Hicks is a former professional basketball player. She was chosen to be a member of the 2013 ACC Women's Basketball Tournament Legends Roster, a class of 12 former-student-athletes who represent three decades of basketball.

Deborah Carter is a former professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for the Utah Starzz in 1997 and Washington Mystics in 1998.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "1997 Utah Starzz Transactions". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  2. 1 2 "1997 WNBA Season Summary".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.