The San Antonio Stars were a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the Utah Starzz before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; then moved to San Antonio before the 2003 season and became the San Antonio Silver Stars, then simply the San Antonio Stars in 2014. The team was owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment, which also owned the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA. The team was sold to MGM Resorts International in 2017 and became the Las Vegas Aces for the 2018 season.
The Utah Starzz were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Salt Lake City. They began play in the 1997 WNBA season as one of the league's eight original teams.
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.
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).
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 2001 WNBA Season was the Women's National Basketball Association's fifth season. The season ended with the Los Angeles Sparks winning their first WNBA championship.
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 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 2000 WNBA season was the 4th season for the Utah Starzz. The team finished the season with a winning record, but fell short for the WNBA Playoffs, falling two games back to the Phoenix Mercury.
The 1998 WNBA season was the 2nd for the Utah Starzz. The team finished dead last in the West for the second consecutive season.
The 1999 WNBA season was the 3rd for the Utah Starzz. The Starzz finished last in the West, despite improving to a 15-17 mark. The team started with coach Frank Layden, who resigned after a 2-2 record so he could retire.
Michaela Pavlíčková is a Czech former basketball player who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics. A forward, she attended the University of Denver where she played for its women's basketball team, coming from her last secondary year at Boulder High School in Boulder, Colorado, after moving from Prague. Pavlíčková was drafted in the second round of the 2001 WNBA draft by the Utah Starzz, playing 18 games in two separate seasons for the Starzz and the Phoenix Mercury. After her WNBA stint was over, she moved back to Europe to finish her professional career.
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.
Toni Foster is a former professional basketball player in the WNBA. She was the eighth pick in the 1997 WNBA draft, being selected by the Phoenix Mercury.
Kimberly Williams is a former professional basketball player who played two seasons for the Utah Starzz of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
The Las Vegas Aces are an American professional basketball team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Aces compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team plays their home games at Michelob Ultra Arena in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, and is headquartered in Henderson, Nevada. The Aces won the 2022 WNBA Commissioner's Cup and WNBA Championship. The Aces also won the 2023 WNBA Championship, becoming the first team to win back-to-back championships since 2001-2002, when the Los Angeles Sparks completed that feat.
Denise Taylor is a former college and WNBA basketball coach. After completing assistant coach positions through the 1980s and 1990s, Taylor began her head coaching career with American International College from 1991 to 1993. After coaching for Northeastern Illinois University from 1993 to 1997, Taylor became the first ever Utah Starzz head coach in the WNBA. After her WNBA position ended in 1998, Taylor returned to collegiate sports as the head coach for the Jackson State Lady Tigers basketball team in 2001. With the Lady Tigers until 2011, Taylor won the 2008 SWAC women's basketball tournament while amassing 153 wins and 143 losses.
Candi Harvey is a basketball coach at John B. Connally High School since 2012. Harvey began her head coaching career with Robert E. Lee High School from 1980 to 1984 before becoming an assistant coach at Stephen F. Austin University. From 1990 to 1998, Harvey was the head coach of the Tulane Green Wave women's basketball team and Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball team for four years each. With the Aggies, Harvey and her team won the 1995 National Women's Invitational Tournament and reached the first round of the 1996 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. In 1998, Harvey briefly worked in the American Basketball League as the coach of the Nashville Noise before the ABL closed the same year.
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