2001 Cleveland Rockers season

The 2001 WNBA season was the 5th season for the Cleveland Rockers. The Rockers topped the Eastern Conference with the best record in franchise history, but their season ended shortly in the playoffs, losing in the first round to eventual conference champion Charlotte Sting.

2001 Cleveland Rockers season
CoachDan Hughes
ArenaGund Arena
Attendance9,211 per game
Results
Record22–10 (.688)
Place1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishLost First Round (2-1) to Charlotte Sting
Team Leaders
PointsMerlakia Jones (13.5)
ReboundsChasity Melvin (5.7)
AssistsHelen Darling (3.4)
Media
TelevisionWUAB (UPN 43)
Fox Sports Net Ohio

Transactions

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WNBA draft

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Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country
1 11 Penny Taylor   Australia Dandenong Rangers (Australia)
2 27 Jaynetta Saunders   United States Texas A&M
3 43 Angelina Wolvert   United States Oregon
4 59 Erin Batth   United States Clemson

Transactions

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Date Transaction
April 20, 2001 Drafted Penny Taylor, Jaynetta Saunders, Angelina Wolvert and Erin Batth in the 2001 WNBA Draft[1]
April 30, 2001 Signed Jessica Zinobile, Kim Williams, Rhonda Blades and Rhonda Smith[1]
May 8, 2001 Waived Kim Williams and Rhonda Smith[1]
May 11, 2001 Waived Rhonda Blades[1]
May 22, 2001 Waived Erin Batth[1]
May 27, 2001 Traded Jaynetta Saunders to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for a 2002 2nd Round Pick[1]
Traded a 2002 3rd Round Pick to the Detroit Shock in exchange for Jennifer Rizzotti[1]
Waived Jessica Zinobile[1]
Suspended contracts of Ann Wauters and Rushia Brown[1]
June 1, 2001 Waived Angelina Wolvert[1]
June 16, 2001 Waived Adia Barnes[1]
July 10, 2001 Waived Vicki Hall[1]
July 12, 2001 Waived Paige Sauer[1]

Roster

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2001 Cleveland Rockers roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs
F 23   Andrade, Mery 6' 0" (1.83m) 169 lb (77kg) 1975-12-31 Old Dominion 2
G 11   Bader Binford, Tricia 5' 4" (1.63m) 125 lb (57kg) 1973-02-26 Boise State 3
F 32   Barnes, Adia 5' 11" (1.8m) 165 lb (75kg) 1977-02-03 Arizona 3
F 34   Brown, Rushia 6' 2" (1.88m) 175 lb (79kg) 1972-05-05 Furman 4
G 30   Darling, Helen 5' 6" (1.68m) 164 lb (74kg) 1978-08-29 Penn State 1
F 42   Hall, Vicki 6' 1" (1.85m) 180 lb (82kg) 1969-10-03 Texas 1
C 41   Johns Kimbrough, Pollyanna 6' 3" (1.91m) 165 lb (75kg) 1975-11-06 Michigan 2
G 25   Jones, Merlakia 5' 10" (1.78m) 147 lb (67kg) 1973-06-21 Florida 4
F/C 44   Melvin, Chasity 6' 3" (1.91m) 185 lb (84kg) 1976-05-03 NC State 2
F 6   Němcová, Eva 6' 3" (1.91m) 178 lb (81kg) 1972-12-03 4
G 21   Rizzotti, Jennifer 5' 6" (1.68m) 146 lb (66kg) 1974-05-15 Connecticut 2
C 31   Sauer, Paige 6' 5" (1.96m) 200 lb (91kg) 1977-12-08 Connecticut 1
F 14   Taylor, Penny 6' 1" (1.85m) 165 lb (75kg) 1981-05-24 R
C 12   Wauters, Ann 6' 4" (1.93m) 193 lb (88kg) 1980-10-12 1
F/C 40   Wolvert, Angelina 6' 3" (1.91m) 1978-12-08 Oregon R
Head coach
  Dan Hughes (Muskingum)
Assistant coaches
  Lisa Boyer




Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  •   Injured

Schedule

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Regular season

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2001 game log
Total: 22–10 (Home: 14–2; Road: 8–8)
May: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Record
1 May 31 Washington W 69–34 Merlakia Jones (17) Pollyanna Johns Kimbrough (10) Chasity Melvin (5) Gund Arena 1–0
June : 9–4 (Home: 5–0; Road: 4–4)
July : 10–2 (Home: 7–1; Road: 3–1)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Record
15 July 1 Minnesota W 52–47 Merlakia Jones (13) Merlakia Jones (6) Helen Darling (6) Gund Arena 11–4
16 July 6 @ Utah L 69–73 Jones
Melvin (13)
Chasity Melvin (8) Mery Andrade (4) Delta Center 11–5
17 July 8 @ Houston W 63–53 Helen Darling (18) Rushia Brown (11) Helen Darling (7) Compaq Center 12–5
18 July 10 Seattle W 59–53 Rushia Brown (18) Rushia Brown (8) Brown
Darling
Rizzotti (4)
Gund Arena 13–5
19 July 11 @ Indiana W 76–58 Darling
Taylor (14)
Pollyanna Johns Kimbrough (5) Jennifer Rizzotti (7) Conseco Fieldhouse 14–5
20 July 13 Phoenix W 69–61 Merlakia Jones (22) Merlakia Jones (11) Darling
Rizzotti (3)
Gund Arena 15–5
21 July 19 New York W 65–60 Ann Wauters (19) Brown
Jones (9)
Helen Darling (6) Gund Arena 16–5
22 July 21 Charlotte W 56–41 Ann Wauters (15) Brown
Jones (6)
Helen Darling (4) Gund Arena 17–5
23 July 25 Miami W 52–48 (OT) Rushia Brown (15) Ann Wauters (10) Mery Andrade (5) Gund Arena 18–5
24 July 27 Indiana L 63–67 Rushia Brown (20) Jones
Taylor (7)
Mery Andrade (7) Gund Arena 18–6
25 July 28 @ Detroit W 57–50 Merlakia Jones (12) Ann Wauters (8) Helen Darling (2) The Palace of Auburn Hills 19–6
26 July 30 Orlando W 65–46 Helen Darling (16) Rushia Brown (8) Helen Darling (5) Charlotte Coliseum 20–6
August : 2–4 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–3)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Record
27 August 4 @ New York W 58–43 Ann Wauters (14) Merlakia Jones (11) Rushia Brown (3) Madison Square Garden 21–6
28 August 7 @ Orlando L 67–74 Merlakia Jones (20) Rushia Brown (7) Mery Andrade (5) TD Waterhouse Centre 21–7
29 August 8 Detroit W 73–66 Jones
Taylor (14)
Jones
Wauters (7)
Andrade
Melvin (4)
Gund Arena 22–7
30 August 10 Charlotte L 53–55 Merlakia Jones (15) Ann Wauters (10) Ann Wauters (5) Gund Arena 22–8
31 August 12 @ Washington L 49–57 Chasity Melvin (13) Chasity Melvin (10) Helen Darling (4) MCI Center 22–9
32 August 14 @ Detroit L 65–76 Penny Taylor (21) Ann Wauters (8) Mery Andrade (5) The Palace of Auburn Hills 22–10
2001 season schedule

Playoffs

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2001 playoff game log
First round vs. Charlotte Sting
Lost Series: 1–2
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Record
1 August 16 @ Charlotte L 46–53 Ann Wauters (12) Merlakia Jones (7) Merlakia Jones (7) Charlotte Coliseum 0–1
2 August 18 Charlotte W 69–51 Merlakia Jones (19) Merlakia Jones (7) Darling
Rizzotti (6)
Gund Arena 1–1
3 August 20 Charlotte L 64–72 Merlakia Jones (13) Helen Darling (5) Helen Darling (10) Gund Arena 1–2
2001 playoff schedule

Season standings

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Eastern Conference W L PCT Conf. GB
Cleveland Rockers x 22 10 .688 15–6
New York Liberty x 21 11 .656 13–8 1.0
Miami Sol x 20 12 .625 14–7 2.0
Charlotte Sting x 18 14 .563 15–6 4.0
Orlando Miracle o 13 19 .406 9–12 9.0
Indiana Fever o 10 22 .313 7–14 12.0
Detroit Shock o 10 22 .313 7–14 12.0
Washington Mystics o 10 22 .313 4–17 12.0

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
Merlakia Jones 30 30 33.3 .438 .265 .793 5.5 1.5 1.0 0.1 13.5
Mery Andrade 32 32 27.9 .339 .200 .667 2.7 3.1 1.6 0.3 4.8
Chasity Melvin 27 20 27.9 .474 1.000 .698 5.7 1.9 0.9 0.6 9.9
Ann Wauters 24 14 25.9 .569 .000 .800 4.8 1.5 0.7 0.5 9.8
Rushia Brown 30 24 25.3 .518 1.000 .730 4.4 1.2 1.5 0.3 8.3
Helen Darling 32 32 24.3 .355 .329 .764 2.4 3.4 1.1 0.1 6.1
Penny Taylor 32 0 17.5 .382 .301 .783 3.5 1.4 1.1 0.3 7.2
Vicki Hall 14 6 16.1 .409 .318 .500 2.4 0.6 0.1 0.4 4.6
Jennifer Rizzotti 32 0 14.9 .382 .384 .636 0.9 1.6 0.8 0.1 3.7
Eva Němcová 8 2 14.1 .342 .200 .625 1.3 1.0 0.3 0.6 4.3
Pollyanna Johns Kimbrough 18 0 6.6 .444 N/A .444 1.7 0.2 0.0 0.1 1.6
Tricia Bader Binford 19 0 6.0 .400 .385 N/A 0.6 0.6 0.3 0.0 1.1
Angelina Wolvert 1 0 5.0 .333 N/A N/A 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0
Paige Sauer 2 0 2.0 .333 N/A N/A 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 1.0
Adia Barnes 3 0 1.0 1.000 N/A N/A 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.7


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 i j k l m "2001 Cleveland Rockers Transactions". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 16, 2024.