1998 New York Liberty season

The 1998 WNBA season was the second for the New York Liberty. The Liberty finished with an 18–12 mark, but they missed the playoffs after losing a tiebreaker to the Charlotte Sting.

1998 New York Liberty season
Coach	Nancy Darsch
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Attendance	14,935 per game
Results
Record	18–12 (.600)
Place	3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
← 1997 season 1999 season →

Transactions

Detroit Shock expansion draft

The following player was selected in the Detroit Shock expansion draft from the New York Liberty:

Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
Rhonda Blades	United States	Vanderbilt

WNBA draft

See also: 1998 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	9	Alicia Thompson	United States	Texas Tech
2	19	Nadine Domond	United States	Iowa
3	29	Albena Branzova	Bulgaria	FIU
4	39	Vanessa Nygaard	United States	Stanford

Transactions

Date	Transaction
February 18, 1998	Lost Rhonda Blades to the Detroit Shock in the WNBA expansion draft
April 29, 1998	Drafted Alicia Thompson, Nadine Domond, Albena Branzova and Vanessa Nygaard in the 1998 WNBA Draft
May 18, 1998	Waived Simone Edwards
June 3, 1998	Waived Cassandra Crumpton-Moorer
June 8, 1998	Waived Nadine Domond
July 14, 1998	Waived Albena Branzova

Roster

1998 New York Liberty roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs F 31 Branzova, Albena 6' 4" (1.93m) 1971-07-17 FIU R C 14 Cebrian, Elisabeth 6' 5" (1.96m) 190 lb (86kg) 1971-02-07 R G/F 5 Ford, Kisha 5' 10" (1.78m) 153 lb (69kg) 1975-04-04 Georgia Tech 1 C 34 Hampton, Kym 6' 2" (1.88m) 210 lb (95kg) 1962-11-03 Arizona State 1 G/F 55 Johnson, Vickie 5' 9" (1.75m) 150 lb (68kg) 1972-04-15 Louisiana Tech 1 C 50 Lobo, Rebecca 6' 4" (1.93m) 185 lb (84kg) 1973-10-06 Connecticut 1 F 43 Thompson, Alicia 6' 1" (1.85m) 180 lb (82kg) 1976-06-30 Texas Tech R F/C 33 Trice, Trena 6' 2" (1.88m) 180 lb (82kg) 1965-08-04 NC State 1 G 4 Washington, Coquese 5' 6" (1.68m) 138 lb (63kg) 1971-01-17 Notre Dame R G 11 Weatherspoon, Teresa 5' 8" (1.73m) 161 lb (73kg) 1965-12-08 Louisiana Tech 1 F 23 Wicks, Sue 6' 3" (1.91m) 174 lb (79kg) 1966-11-26 Rutgers 1 G/F 13 Witherspoon, Sophia 5' 10" (1.78m) 145 lb (66kg) 1969-07-06 Florida 1	Head coach Nancy Darsch (Tennessee) Assistant coaches Melissa McFerrin Pat Coyle Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Schedule

Regular season

1998 game log Total: 17–11 (Home: 10–5; Road: 7–6)
June: 5–4 (Home: 4–0; Road: 1–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 June 11 @ Cleveland L 71–78 Sophia Witherspoon (19) Rebecca Lobo (7) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) Gund Arena 0–1 2 June 13 @ Houston L 62–73 Vickie Johnson (18) Teresa Weatherspoon (6) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) Compaq Center 0–2 3 June 15 @ Utah L 60–71 Vickie Johnson (19) Hampton Witherspoon (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (9) Delta Center 0–3 4 June 18 @ Sacramento W 64–48 Teresa Weatherspoon (13) Rebecca Lobo (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (6) ARCO Arena 1–3 5 June 19 @ Los Angeles L 75–78 Sophia Witherspoon (18) Kym Hampton (9) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) Great Western Forum 1–4 6 June 21 Utah W 68–64 Kym Hampton (22) Kym Hampton (10) Teresa Weatherspoon (8) Madison Square Garden 2–4 7 June 23 Cleveland W 59–57 Vickie Johnson (27) Hampton Lobo (8) Lobo Weatherspoon (5) Madison Square Garden 3–4 8 June 26 Sacramento W 62–48 Kym Hampton (13) Johnson Lobo (7) Teresa Weatherspoon (4) Madison Square Garden 4–4 9 June 29 Phoenix W 71–68 Johnson Witherspoon (23) Teresa Weatherspoon (10) Teresa Weatherspoon (8) Madison Square Garden 5–4
July : 7–5 (Home: 3–2; Road: 4–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 10 July 1 @ Detroit L 65–82 Sophia Witherspoon (13) Kym Hampton (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (6) The Palace of Auburn Hills 5–5 11 July 3 Washington W 76–60 Teresa Weatherspoon (14) Hampton Lobo (6) Johnson Weatherspoon (6) Madison Square Garden 6–5 12 July 5 @ Washington W 62–61 Kym Hampton (17) Rebecca Lobo (13) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) MCI Center 7–5 13 July 6 Detroit W 59–56 Teresa Weatherspoon (12) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) Teresa Weatherspoon (4) Madison Square Garden 8–5 14 July 8 Houston L 54–79 Rebecca Lobo (14) Hampton Lobo (4) Teresa Weatherspoon (6) Madison Square Garden 8–6 15 July 12 Charlotte L 57–75 Kym Hampton (12) Kym Hampton (9) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) Madison Square Garden 8–7 16 July 15 @ Charlotte L 65–72 Sophia Witherspoon (17) Kym Hampton (12) Teresa Weatherspoon (6) Charlotte Coliseum 8–8 17 July 16 @ Cleveland L 51–60 Sophia Witherspoon (13) Kym Hampton (10) Teresa Weatherspoon (6) Gund Arena 8–9 18 July 18 @ Phoenix W 69–63 Sophia Witherspoon (24) Sophia Witherspoon (6) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) America West Arena 9–9 19 July 21 @ Los Angeles W 92–77 Vickie Johnson (17) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) Teresa Weatherspoon (13) Great Western Forum 10–9 20 July 24 @ Sacramento W 76–54 Sophia Witherspoon (15) Rebecca Lobo (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (10) ARCO Arena 11–9 21 July 26 Detroit W 78–62 Sophia Witherspoon (17) Rebecca Lobo (10) Teresa Weatherspoon (9) Madison Square Garden 12–9
August : 5–4 (Home: 4–2; Road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 22 August 1 @ Washington W 67–53 Rebecca Lobo (13) Kym Hampton (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (6) MCI Center 13–9 23 August 2 Charlotte W 85–67 Johnson Witherspoon (18) Lobo Wicks (6) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) Madison Square Garden 14–9 24 August 5 @ Charlotte L 61–69 Vickie Johnson (21) Rebecca Lobo (11) Teresa Weatherspoon (4) Charlotte Coliseum 14–10 25 August 8 Los Angeles W 80–62 Rebecca Lobo (22) Sue Wicks (9) Coquese Washington (8) Madison Square Garden 15–10 26 August 11 Phoenix W 79–78 (OT) Sophia Witherspoon (17) Rebecca Lobo (11) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) Madison Square Garden 16–10 27 August 13 Washington W 88–45 Kisha Ford (19) Rebecca Lobo (9) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) Madison Square Garden 17–10 28 August 15 Houston W 70–54 Sophia Witherspoon (21) Rebecca Lobo (12) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) Madison Square Garden 18–10 29 August 17 Cleveland L 64–70 Rebecca Lobo (18) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) Johnson Washington Weatherspoon (4) Madison Square Garden 18–11 30 August 19 @ Detroit L 68–82 Sophia Witherspoon (26) Teresa Weatherspoon (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (8) The Palace of Auburn Hills 18–12
1998 season schedule

Season standings

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
Cleveland Rockers x	20	10	.667	12–4	–
Charlotte Sting x	18	12	.600	11–5	2.0
New York Liberty o	18	12	.600	8–8	2.0
Detroit Shock o	17	13	.567	8–8	3.0
Washington Mystics o	3	27	.100	1–15	17.0

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
Teresa Weatherspoon	30	30	33.4	.338	.327	.609	4.0	6.4	3.3	0.0	6.8
Vickie Johnson	30	30	30.2	.446	.375	.768	3.8	2.5	1.0	0.2	12.5
Sophia Witherspoon	30	30	29.9	.401	.344	.786	3.0	1.9	1.3	0.1	13.8
Rebecca Lobo	30	30	29.2	.484	.308	.710	6.9	1.5	0.6	1.1	11.7
Kym Hampton	30	30	24.8	.452	.000	.716	6.0	0.9	1.1	0.5	9.1
Kisha Ford	30	0	15.7	.435	.182	.625	1.2	0.8	1.1	0.1	4.9
Sue Wicks	30	0	14.8	.430	.000	.800	2.8	1.2	0.5	0.3	4.3
Albena Branzova	11	0	8.5	.360	.500	.750	1.5	0.5	0.3	0.1	2.1
Elisabeth Cebrian	22	0	8.5	.429	N/A	.571	1.2	0.4	0.0	0.3	1.7
Coquese Washington	228	0	8.1	.294	.238	.692	0.9	1.6	0.6	0.0	1.9
Trena Trice	10	0	7.7	.412	N/A	.636	1.8	0.1	0.0	0.3	2.1
Alicia Thompson	19	0	6.6	.231	1.000	.632	1.3	0.2	0.1	0.1	1.6

^‡Waived/Released during the season
^†Traded during the season
^≠Acquired during the season

External links

• Liberty on Basketball Reference