1997 New York Liberty season
WNBA team season
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The 1997 WNBA season was the first season for the New York Liberty.
| 1997 New York Liberty season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Nancy Darsch |
| Arena | Madison Square Garden |
| Results | |
| Record | 17–11 (.607) |
| Place | 2nd (Eastern) |
| Playoff finish | Lost WNBA Finals |
WNBA allocation draft
| Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
|---|---|---|
| Rebecca Lobo |  United States |
UConn |
| Teresa Weatherspoon | United States |
Louisiana Tech |
WNBA elite draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kym Hampton | United States |
Arizona State |
| 2 | 12 | Vickie Johnson | United States |
Louisiana Tech |
WNBA draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Sue Wicks | United States |
Rutgers |
| 2 | 11 | Sophia Witherspoon | United States |
Florida |
| 3 | 22 | Trena Trice | United States |
NC State |
| 4 | 27 | Kisha Ford | United States |
Georgia Tech |
Transactions
| Date | Transaction | |
|---|---|---|
| January 22, 1997 | Drafted Rebecca Lobo and Teresa Weatherspoon in the 1997 WNBA Allocation Draft[1] | |
| February 27, 1997 | Drafted Kym Hampton and Vickie Johnson in the 1997 WNBA Elite Draft[1] | |
| April 19, 1997 | Hired Nancy Darsch as Head Coach[1] | |
| April 28, 1997 | Drafted Sue Wicks, Sophia Witherspoon, Trena Trice and Kisha Ford in the 1997 WNBA draft[1] | |
| August 11, 1997 | Waived Jasmina Perazić-Gipe[1] | |
Roster
| 1997 New York Liberty roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Schedule
Regular season
Playoffs
| 1997 playoff game log | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Semifinal vs. Phoenix Mercury
| ||||||||||||||||||
Championship vs. Houston Comets
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| 1997 playoff schedule | ||||||||||||||||||
Season standings
| 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 |
Statistics
| 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 | ||||
Regular season
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rebecca Lobo | 28 | 28 | 33.5 | .376 | .286 | .610 | 7.3 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 12.4 |
| Teresa Weatherspoon | 28 | 28 | 33.0 | .467 | .086 | .650 | 4.1 | 6.2 | 3.0 | 0.1 | 7.0 |
| Sophia Witherspoon | 28 | 28 | 31.0 | .406 | .349 | .748 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 14.5 |
| Vickie Johnson | 26 | 25 | 30.3 | .404 | .190 | .771 | 4.2 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 9.6 |
| Kym Hampton | 28 | 28 | 23.7 | .474 | .000 | .640 | 5.8 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 9.8 |
| Kisha Ford | 28 | 3 | 16.9 | .377 | .150 | .614 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 4.1 |
| Trena Trice | 28 | 0 | 12.1 | .554 | .250 | .667 | 2.4 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 4.8 |
| Sue Wicks | 28 | 0 | 11.9 | .355 | .286 | .667 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 3.6 |
| Rhonda Blades | 28 | 0 | 10.4 | .357 | .315 | .650 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 2.9 |
| Cassandra Crumpton-Moorer | 2 | 0 | 5.5 | .250 | .000 | N/A | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Jasmina Perazić-Gipe | 9 | 0 | 5.2 | .385 | .000 | N/A | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.1 |
‡Waived/Released during the season
†Traded during the season
≠Acquired during the season
- Kym Hampton ranked tenth in the WNBA in total rebounds with 163
- Kym Hampton ranked tenth in the WNBA in blocks with 19.
- Kym Hampton ranked fifth in the WNBA in Field Goal Percentage (.471)
- Rebecca Lobo ranked fourth in the WNBA in blocks with 51.
- Rebecca Lobo ranked fourth in the WNBA in total rebounds with 203.
- Rebecca Lobo ranked eighth in the WNBA in minutes per game with 33.5 minutes per game.
- Sophia Witherspoon ranked seventh in the WNBA in points with 407 points.
- Sophia Witherspoon ranked ninth in the WNBA in field goals with 140.
- Sophia Witherspoon ranked seventh in the WNBA in points per game with 14.5
- Sophia Witherspoon was tied for tenth in the WNBA in steals with 49.
- Teresa Weatherspoon ranked tenth in the WNBA in minutes per game with 33.0 minutes.