Houston Comets
Conference	Western Conference
Founded	1997
Arena	Toyota Center
City	Houston, Texas
Team Colors	Red, Blue
Owner	Hilton Koch
General Manager	Karleen Thompson
Head Coach	Karleen Thompson
WNBA Championships	4 (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000)
Conference Titles	4 (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000)
Mascot	Haley [1]

The Houston Comets are a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Houston, Texas. Formed in 1997, the team is one of the original WNBA teams and after winning four championships in the first four years of the league's existence, the Comets are also the first dynasty of the WNBA. They have also won more championships than any other team in the WNBA.

The Comets are also known for their roster of women's basketball stars. The team had the WNBA's first WNBA MVP in Cynthia Cooper, college and national team standout Sheryl Swoopes and college star Tina Thompson.

The Comets are owned by Hilton Koch.

Uniforms:

• Red, white and blue home with a C simulating a comet, name comets in white and a WNBA basketball. Red and blue on the road

Franchise history

The Comets were one of the original teams in the WNBA. They capped off a good inaugural season in 1997 with a win over the New York Liberty in the WNBA championship game to win the WNBA's first championship. When the league expanded the next season, the Comets were moved from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference. In 1998, they repeated the championship, although by then the championship game had been extended into a three game championship series. They beat the Phoenix Mercury in the Finals that year.

In 1999, led by what was already known as the Big Three, (Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper and Tina Thompson), the Comets survived a highlight film last second, court to court game winning shot by the Liberty's Teresa Weatherspoon in Game 2 of the finals to beat the Liberty in three games and win their third straight title, this one after the death of teammate Kim Perrot, who died of cancer.

In 2000, the Comets went all the way to the Finals again, and beat the Liberty in two games to win their fourth title in a row, becoming known as a sports dynasty. But after losing Cooper to retirement in 2001, they were able to reach only the quarterfinals, and in 2002, when Swoopes was injured most of the year with a broken ankle, they lost at the Quarterfinals again. They missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history in 2004, but earned a playoff berth in 2005.

After being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs to the Sacramento Monarchs in 2006, the Comets underwent major front-office changes during the off-season. In October 2006, team owner Leslie Alexander (who also owns the NBA's Houston Rockets team) announced he was selling the Comets, and longtime Head Coach Van Chancellor resigned in January 2007. On January 31, 2007, the WNBA Board of Governors approved the sale of the team to Hilton Koch, a Houston-based mattress and furniture businessman. Two weeks later, Comets assistant coach Karleen Thompson was named to become the team's new Head Coach and General Manager for the 2007 season.

Season-by-Season Records

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, % = Win-Loss %

Season	W	L	%	Playoffs	Results
Houston Comets
1997	18	10	.643	Won WNBA Semifinals Won WNBA Finals	Houston 70, Charlotte 54 Houston 65, New York 51
1998	27	3	.900	Won WNBA Semifinals Won WNBA Finals	Houston 2, Charlotte 0 Houston 2, Phoenix 1
1999	26	6	.813	Won Conference Finals Won WNBA Finals	Houston 2, Los Angeles 1 Houston 2, New York 1
2000	27	5	.844	Won First Round Won Conference Finals Won WNBA Finals	Houston 2, Sacramento 0 Houston 2, Los Angeles 0 Houston 2, New York 0
2001	19	13	.594	Lost First Round	Los Angeles 2, Houston 0
2002	24	8	.750	Lost First Round	Utah 2, Houston 1
2003	20	14	.588	Lost First Round	Sacramento 2, Houston 1
2004	13	21	.382
2005	19	15	.559	Won First Round Lost Conference Finals	Houston 2, Seattle 1 Sacramento 2, Houston 0
2006	18	16	.529	Lost First Round	Sacramento 2, Houston 0
2007	13	21	.382
Totals	224	132	.629
Playoffs	20	14	.588	4 WNBA Championships

Stats updated August 20, 2007

Team owners

• 1997 - 2007 Leslie Alexander (still owner of Houston Rockets)
• 2007 - present Hilton Koch

Players of note

Hall of Famers

none

Retired numbers

• 10. Kim Perrot
• 14. Cynthia Cooper

Not to be forgotten

• Janeth Arcain
• Octavia Blue
• Dominique Canty
• Cynthia Cooper, now the Head Coach at Prairie View A&M University
• Ukari Figgs
• Kelley Gibson, now an assistant coach at University of Maryland Baltimore County
• Wanda Guyton
• Fran Harris (in 2006, appeared as a contestant on the Comedy Central game show "Distraction")
• Sonja Henning
• Tammy Jackson
• Tiffani Johnson
• Monica Lamb
• Amanda Lassiter
• Edwige Lawson
• Tynesha Lewis
• Yolanda Moore
• Kim Perrot
• Jennifer Rizzotti, now the head coach at Hartford University
• Elena Shakirova
• Trisha Stafford-Odom
• Dawn Staley, now the head coach at Temple University
• Lindsay Taylor
• Polina Tzekova
• Amaya Valdemoro
• Coquese Washington, now the head coach at Penn State University
• Kara Wolters
• Tiffany Woosley

Current Roster

Coaches and others

Head Coaches:

• Van Chancellor (1997-2006)
• Karleen Thompson (2007-)

External links

• Official Comets website

Women's National Basketball Association

Eastern Conference	Western Conference
Chicago Sky | Connecticut Sun | Detroit Shock | Indiana Fever | New York Liberty | Washington Mystics	Houston Comets | Los Angeles Sparks | Minnesota Lynx | Phoenix Mercury | Sacramento Monarchs | San Antonio Silver Stars | Seattle Storm
Defunct teams: Charlotte Sting | Cleveland Rockers | Miami Sol | Portland Fire
Media: WNBA on ESPN | List of WNBA Finals broadcasters
Other Women's Leagues: National Women's Basketball League | Women's National Basketball League (Australia)

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	Sports teams based in greater Houston
Baseball	MLB: Houston Astros, CBL: Bay Area Toros
Basketball	NBA: Houston Rockets, WNBA: Houston Comets, ABA: Houston Takers
Football	NFL: Houston Texans, IFL: Katy Ruff Riders, af2: Texas Copperheads, APFL: Conroe Storm, WPFL: Houston Energy
Soccer	MLS: Houston Dynamo
Hockey	AHL: Houston Aeros
Tennis	WTT: Houston Wranglers
College athletics (NCAA Division I)	Rice University • Texas Southern University • University of Houston

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