1997 Los Angeles Sparks season

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1997 Los Angeles Sparks season
CoachLinda Sharp
ArenaGreat Western Forum
Attendance8,931 per game
Results
Record14–14 (.500)
Place2nd (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1997 WNBA season was the first season for the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks finished in second place in the Western Division with a record of 14 wins and 14 losses.

Offseason

Initial Player Allocation

Pick Player Nationality WNBA Team College/HS/Club Team
7 Lisa Leslie (C)  United States Los Angeles Sparks Southern California
8 Penny Toler (G)  United States Los Angeles Sparks Long Beach State

[1]

WNBA Draft

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College/HS/Club Team
1 3 Jamila Wideman Guard  United States Stanford
2 14 Tamecka Dixon  United States Kansas
3 19 Katrina Colleton
4 30 Travesa Gant

[2]

Regular season

The Sparks and WNBA's first game was played on June 21, 1997, in Los Angeles. The Sparks lost to the New York Liberty, 67-57. The attendance at the Forum was 14,284.[3]

Season standings

Western Conference W L PCT Conf. GB
Phoenix Mercury x 16 12 .571 9–3 –
Los Angeles Sparks o 14 14 .500 8–4 2.0
Sacramento Monarchs o 10 18 .357 4–8 6.0
Utah Starzz o 7 21 .250 3–9 9.0

Season Schedule

Date Opponent Score Result Record
June 21 New York 57-67 Loss 0-1
June 23 @ Utah 89-102 Loss 0-2
June 25 Charlotte 74-54 Win 1-2
June 27 Sacramento 93-73 Win 2-2
June 30 @ Houston 66-71 (OT) Loss 2-3
July 3 @ Cleveland 74-62 Win 3-3
July 5 @ Charlotte 66-78 Loss 3-4
July 7 Cleveland 70-81 Loss 3-5
July 11 Utah 75-68 Win 4-5
July 13 Phoenix 56-57 Loss 4-6
July 15 @ Sacramento 73-78 Loss 4-7
July 16 Houston 77-52 Win 5-7
July 19 @ New York 57-69 Loss 5-8
July 21 @ Charlotte 64-75 Loss 5-9
July 23 Cleveland 85-89 Loss 5-10
July 25 @ Phoenix 86-83 (OT) Win 6-10
July 27 @ Sacramento 84-62 Win 7-10
July 30 Utah 91-69 Win 8-10
August 1 Houston 57-81 Loss 8-11
August 3 Charlotte 70-77 Loss 8-12
August 5 @ New York 67-50 Win 9-12
August 7 @ Cleveland 87-84 (2OT) Win 10-12
August 9 @ Houston 71-72 Loss 10-13
August 16 @ Utah 74-64 Win 11-13
August 18 Phoenix 75-66 Win 12-13
August 20 New York 78-76 Win 13-13
August 22 Sacramento 88-77 Win 14-13
August 24 @ Phoenix 68-73 (OT) Loss 14-14

Player stats

Player Games Played Minutes Field Goals Rebounds Assists Steals Blocks Points
Lisa Leslie 28 902 160 266 74 39 59 445
Penny Toler 28 907 144 94 143 36 3 368
Tamecka Dixon 27 715 115 81 55 49 5 320
Haixia Zheng 28 557 110 123 17 11 20 259
Linda Burgess 28 492 73 117 9 20 13 183
Katrina Colleton 28 613 55 60 45 35 9 136
Mwadi Mabika 21 325 53 54 22 23 6 126
Heidi Burge 22 282 32 69 15 12 12 87
Jamila Wideman 28 633 25 57 103 24 1 84
Daedra Charles 28 282 27 48 12 10 10 64
Travesa Gant 2 13 0 3 0 0 0 0
Kim Gessig 1 4 0 1 0 0 0

[4]

  • Tamecka Dixon was tied for tenth in the WNBA in steals with 49.
  • Tamecka Dixon ranked tenth in the WNBA in Field Goal Percentage (.456)
  • Lisa Leslie ranked third in the WNBA in points with 445 points.
  • Lisa Leslie ranked third in the WNBA in points per game with 15.9
  • Lisa Leslie ranked fifth in the WNBA in field goals with 160.
  • Lisa Leslie ranked first in the WNBA in total rebounds with 266.
  • Lisa Leslie ranked second in the WNBA in blocks with 59.
  • Penny Toler ranked tenth in the WNBA in points with 368 points.
  • Penny Toler ranked eighth in the WNBA in field goals with 144.
  • Penny Toler ranked tenth in the WNBA in points per game with 13.1[5]
  • Penny Toler ranked sixth in the WNBA in Free Throw Pct with .839
  • Penny Toler ranked second in the WNBA in assists with 143.
  • Jamila Wideman ranked seventh in the WNBA in assists with 103.
  • Haixia Zheng ranked ninth in the WNBA in blocks with 20.

Awards and honors

  • Lisa Leslie, Center, All WNBA First Team [6]
  • Lisa Leslie: Led WNBA, Defensive Rebounds, 203
  • Lisa Leslie: Led WNBA, Total Rebounds, 266
  • Lisa Leslie: Led WNBA, Rebounds per game, 9.5
  • Lisa Leslie ranked second in the WNBA with 2.1 blocks per game.
  • Lisa Leslie ranked third in the WNBA with 113 Free Throws.
  • Haixia Zheng, WNBA Peak Performer
  • Haixia Zheng, Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award
  • Haixia Zheng: Led WNBA, Field Goal Percentage, .618

[5]

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-13. Retrieved 2008-10-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ http://www.wnba.com/history/sparks_draft_history.html
  3. ^ http://www.wnba.com/liberty/news/history.html
  4. ^ https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/teams/LAS/1997.html
  5. ^ a b https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/years/1997.html
  6. ^ http://www.wnba.com/history/awards_1997.html

Sparks on Basketball Reference

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