1997 WNBA season

1997 WNBA season
Duration	June 21 - August 30
Games	28
Teams	8
Total attendance	1,082,963
Average attendance	9,669
TV partner/s	ESPN, NBC, Lifetime
Draft
Top draft pick	Tina Thompson
Picked by	Houston Comets
Regular season
Season MVP	Cynthia Cooper (Houston)
Stat leaders
Points	C. Cooper (22.2)
Rebounds	L. Leslie (9.5)
Assists	T. Weatherspoon (6.1)
Playoffs
East champions	Houston Comets, New York Liberty
East runners-up	Charlotte Sting
West champions	none due to setup
West runners-up	Phoenix Mercury
Finals
Finals champions	Houston Comets
Runners-up	New York Liberty
Finals MVP	Cynthia Cooper (Houston)
WNBA seasons
	1998 →

The 1997 WNBA Season was the Women's National Basketball Association's first in existence. 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.^[1] The season ended with the Comets defeating the Liberty in a one game series 65-51. Cynthia Cooper was named MVP of the game.

Regular season standings

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Season award winners

League Leaders

• Chantel Tremitiere: Sacramento Monarchs, Minutes Played 1051
• Cynthia Cooper: Houston Comets, Field Goals 191
• Wendy Palmer: Utah Starzz, Field Goal Attempts, 420
• Haixia Zheng: Los Angeles Sparks, Field Goal Percentage, .618
• Cynthia Cooper: Houston Comets, 3-Pt Field Goals, 67
• Ruthie Bolton: Sacramento Monarchs, 3-Pt Field Goal Attempts, 192
• Eva Nemcova: Cleveland Rockers, 3-Pt Field Goal Percentage, .435
• Cynthia Cooper: Houston Comets, Free Throws, 172
• Cynthia Cooper: Houston Comets, Free Throw Attempts, 199
• Bridget Pettis: Phoenix Mercury, Free Throw Percentage, .898
• Latasha Byears: Sacramento Monarchs, Offensive Rebounds, 87
• Lisa Leslie: Los Angeles Sparks, Defensive Rebounds, 203
• Lisa Leslie: Los Angeles Sparks, Total Rebounds, 266
• Teresa Weatherspoon: New York Liberty, Assists, 172
• Teresa Weatherspoon: New York Liberty, Steals, 85
• Elena Baranova: Utah Starzz, Blocks, 63
• Chantel Tremitiere: Sacramento Monarchs, Turnovers, 122
• Isabelle Fijalkowski: Cleveland Rockers, Personal Fouls, 129
• Cynthia Cooper: Houston Comets, Points, 621
• Chantel Tremitiere: Sacramento Monarchs, Minutes per game, 37.5
• Cynthia Cooper: Houston Comets, Points per game, 22.2
• Lisa Leslie: Los Angeles Sparks, Rebounds per game, 9.5
• Teresa Weatherspoon: New York Liberty, Assists per game, 6.1
• Teresa Weatherspoon: New York Liberty, Steals per game, 3.0
• Elena Baranova: Utah Starzz, Blocks per game, 2.2

^[2]

Playoffs

There were only 8 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in the league were seeded one to four. Houston was in the Eastern Conference in 1997 so two Eastern Conference teams matched up in the WNBA Finals.

References

External links

• 1997 WNBA Awards