1998 Phoenix Mercury season

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
CoachCheryl Miller
ArenaAmerica West Arena
Attendance13,765 per game
Results
Record19–11 (.633)
Place2nd (Western)
Playoff finishLost WNBA Finals (2-1) to Houston Comets

Transactions

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Detroit Shock expansion draft

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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

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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

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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

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1998 Phoenix Mercury roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs
C 14   Askamp, Marlies 6' 5" (1.96m) 198 lb (90kg) 1970-07-08 1
F 12   Brogan, Michelle 6' 1" (1.85m) 177 lb (80kg) 1973-02-08 R
F/C 0   Foster, Toni 6' 1" (1.85m) 175 lb (79kg) 1971-11-16 Iowa 1
F/C 22   Gillom, Jennifer 6' 3" (1.91m) 180 lb (82kg) 1964-06-13 Mississippi 1
G 24   Hagiwara, Mikiko 5' 9" (1.75m) 160 lb (73kg) 1970-04-27 1
G 4   Harrower, Kristi 5' 4" (1.63m) 139 lb (63kg) 1975-03-04 R
F/C 11   Jordan, Pauline 6' 3" (1.91m) 205 lb (93kg) 1968-04-27 UNLV R
G/F 15   Kuklová, Andrea 6' 0" (1.83m) 150 lb (68kg) 1971-07-16 R
G 32   Pettis, Bridget 5' 9" (1.75m) 150 lb (68kg) 1971-01-01 Florida 1
F 13   Reed, Brandy 6' 1" (1.85m) 168 lb (76kg) 1977-02-17 Southern Miss R
C 8   Stepanova, Maria 6' 8" (2.03m) 187 lb (85kg) 1979-01-23 R
G 7   Timms, Michele 5' 7" (1.7m) 132 lb (60kg) 1965-06-28 1
G/F 21   Webb, Umeki 5' 10" (1.78m) 162 lb (73kg) 1975-06-26 NC State 1
Head coach
  Cheryl Miller (USC)
Assistant coaches
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Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  •   Injured

Schedule

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Regular season

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1998 game log
Total: 19–11 (Home: 13–3; Road: 6–8)
June: 6–2 (Home: 4–1; Road: 2–1)
July: 6–7 (Home: 4–2; Road: 2–5)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Record
9 July 2 @ Cleveland W 76–61 Jennifer Gillom (29) Jennifer Gillom (8) Michele Timms (5) Gund Arena 7–2
10 July 4 @ Charlotte L 66–68 Jennifer Gillom (21) Bridget Pettis (7) Michele Timms (9) Charlotte Coliseum 7–3
11 July 8 @ Detroit W 78–76 Jennifer Gillom (24) Jennifer Gillom (10) Michele Timms (8) The Palace of Auburn Hills 8–3
12 July 10 Cleveland W 76–60 Jennifer Gillom (28) Marlies Askamp (11) Michele Timms (8) America West Arena 9–3
13 July 13 Los Angeles W 72–62 Jennifer Gillom (27) Jennifer Gillom (9) Michele Timms (5) America West Arena 10–3
14 July 15 Detroit W 73–60 Jennifer Gillom (17) Michelle Brogan (6) Michele Timms (5) America West Arena 11–3
15 July 18 New York L 63–69 Michelle Brogan (14) Jennifer Gillom (6) Michele Timms (8) America West Arena 11–4
16 July 20 Sacramento W 88–67 Bridget Pettis (18) Brogan
Gillom
Webb (6)
Michele Timms (9) America West Arena 12–4
17 July 21 Houston L 62–65 Jennifer Gillom (24) Jennifer Gillom (11) Michele Timms (6) America West Arena 12–5
18 July 23 @ Los Angeles L 68–70 Jennifer Gillom (27) Jennifer Gillom (9) Jennifer Gillom (4) Great Western Forum 12–6
19 July 27 @ Utah L 80–90 Jennifer Gillom (31) Michelle Brogan (7) Michele Timms (6) Delta Center 12–7
20 July 28 @ Houston L 62–72 Jennifer Gillom (23) Jennifer Gillom (13) Timms
Webb (3)
Compaq Center 12–8
21 July 31 @ Los Angeles L 56–71 Jennifer Gillom (23) Jennifer Gillom (10) Bridget Pettis (4) Great Western Forum 12–9
August: 7–2 (Home: 5–0; Road: 2–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Record
22 August 4 Washington W 88–59 Jennifer Gillom (21) Marlies Askamp (8) Harrower
Timms (4)
America West Arena 13–9
23 August 6 @ Houston L 64–75 Jennifer Gillom (19) Brandy Reed (6) Kuklová
Timms
Webb (3)
Compaq Center 13–10
24 August 8 Utah W 68–62 Bridget Pettis (21) Gillom
Pettis (8)
Michele Timms (9) America West Arena 14–10
25 August 10 Cleveland W 82–80 (2OT) Jennifer Gillom (38) Jennifer Gillom (8) Michele Timms (7) America West Arena 15–10
26 August 11 @ New York L 78–79 (OT) Jennifer Gillom (21) Jennifer Gillom (7) Brogan
Pettis
Timms (4)
Madison Square Garden 15–11
27 August 14 Detroit W 84–59 Gillom
Pettis (23)
Bridget Pettis (7) Michele Timms (7) America West Arena 16–11
28 August 16 @ Monarchs W 85–69 Jennifer Gillom (25) Michelle Brogan (8) Umeki Webb (5) ARCO Arena 17–11
29 August 17 @ Utah W 75–64 Jennifer Gillom (20) Gillom
Reed
Webb (7)
Michele Timms (7) Delta Center 18–11
30 August 19 Monarchs W 71–62 Jennifer Gillom (18) Jennifer Gillom (8) Michele Timms (4) America West Arena 19–11
1998 season schedule

Playoffs

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1998 playoff game log
Semifinal vs. Cleveland Rockers
Won Series: 2–1
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Series
1 August 22 Cleveland W 78–68 Jennifer Gillom (21) Gillom
Reed (5)
Umeki Webb (6) America West Arena 1–0
2 August 24 @ Cleveland L 66–67 Jennifer Gillom (27) Jennifer Gillom (10) Michele Timms (6) Gund Arena 1–1
3 August 25 @ Cleveland W 71–60 Bridget Pettis (27) Bridget Pettis (11) Michele Timms (8) Gund Arena 2–1
Championship vs. Houston Comets
Lost Series: 1–2
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Series
1 August 27 @ Phoenix W 54–51 Jennifer Gillom (15) Michelle Brogan (12) Michele Timms (5) America West Arena 1–0
2 August 29 Phoenix L 69–74 (OT) Michele Timms (21) Jennifer Gillom (9) Michelle Brogan (3) Compaq Center 1–1
3 September 1 Phoenix L 71–80 Michelle Brogan (24) Jennifer Gillom (6) Michele Timms (7) Compaq Center 1–2
1998 playoff schedule

Season standings

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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

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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

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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

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "1998 Phoenix Mercury Transactions". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
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