1998 Phoenix Mercury season
WNBA team season
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The 1998 WNBA season was the second season for the Phoenix Mercury. The Mercury reached their first WNBA Finals, but championship hopes were denied when they lost to the Houston Comets in three games.
| 1998 Phoenix Mercury season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Cheryl Miller |
| Arena | America West Arena |
| Results | |
| Record | 19–11 (.633) |
| Place | 2nd (Western) |
| Playoff finish | Lost WNBA Finals (2-1) to Houston Comets |
Transactions
Detroit Shock expansion draft
The following player was selected in the Detroit Shock expansion draft from the Phoenix Mercury:
| Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
|---|---|---|
| Tara Williams |  United States |
Auburn |
WNBA draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Maria Stepanova |  Soviet Union |
CSKA Moscow (Russia) |
| 2 | 18 | Andrea Kuklová |  Czechoslovakia |
Pays d'Aix Basket 13 (France) |
| 3 | 28 | Brandy Reed | United States |
Southern Miss |
| 4 | 38 | Karen Wilkins | United States |
Howard |
Transactions
| Date | Transaction | |
|---|---|---|
| February 18, 1998 | Lost Tara Williams to the Detroit Shock in the WNBA expansion draft.[1] | |
| April 29, 1998 | Drafted Maria Stepanova, Andrea Kuklová, Brandy Reed and Karen Wilkins in the 1998 WNBA draft[1] | |
| May 29, 1998 | Waived Monique Ambers[1] | |
| May 30, 1998 | Waived Karen Wilkins[1] | |
| June 4, 1998 | Waived Tawona Alhaleem[1] | |
| June 10, 1998 | Waived Tia Jackson[1] | |
| July 6, 1998 | Traded Pauline Jordan to the Sacramento Monarchs in exchange for Tiffani Johnson[1] | |
| July 31, 1998 | Waived Mikiko Hagiwara[1] | |
Roster
| 1998 Phoenix Mercury roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Schedule
Regular season
Playoffs
| 1998 playoff game log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Semifinal vs. Cleveland Rockers Won Series: 2–1
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Championship vs. Houston Comets Lost Series: 1–2
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| 1998 playoff schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Season standings
| Western Conference | W | L | PCT | Conf. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Comets x | 27 | 3 | .900 | 15–1 | – |
| Phoenix Mercury x | 19 | 11 | .633 | 10–6 | 8.0 |
| Los Angeles Sparks o | 12 | 18 | .400 | 6–10 | 15.0 |
| Sacramento Monarchs o | 8 | 22 | .267 | 5–11 | 19.0 |
| Utah Starzz o | 8 | 22 | .267 | 4–12 | 19.0 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jennifer Gillom | 30 | 30 | 32.1 | .465 | .378 | .703 | 7.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 20.9 |
| Michele Timms | 30 | 30 | 31.1 | .318 | .298 | .694 | 2.5 | 5.3 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 6.9 |
| Bridget Pettis | 30 | 28 | 28.3 | .377 | .285 | .865 | 3.4 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 11.3 |
| Umeki Webb | 30 | 30 | 28.2 | .363 | .286 | .661 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 5.3 |
| Michelle Brogan | 30 | 25 | 26.0 | .505 | .478 | .796 | 4.4 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 9.2 |
| Toni Foster | 16 | 5 | 13.6 | .467 | N/A | .767 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 4.9 |
| Marlies Askamp | 26 | 0 | 12.3 | .471 | N/A | .661 | 3.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 5.3 |
| Kristi Harrower | 30 | 0 | 11.8 | .365 | .344 | .750 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 2.3 |
| Andrea Kuklová | 29 | 2 | 11.7 | .400 | .143 | .556 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 3.3 |
| Brandy Reed | 24 | 0 | 10.6 | .526 | .250 | .710 | 3.3 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 5.2 |
| Maria Stepanova | 20 | 0 | 6.5 | .426 | N/A | .636 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 3.3 |
| Mikiko Hagiwara | 10 | 0 | 5.9 | .381 | .333 | .667 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.2 |
| Pauline Jordan | 6 | 0 | 5.0 | .625 | N/A | .714 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.5 |
‡Waived/Released during the season
†Traded during the season
≠Acquired during the season