Sacramento Monarchs Weekly Update

Published on July 25, 2005 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Sacramento Monarchs News Release


Outlook for the Week

Tuesday, July 26 vs. Charlotte Sting, 7:00 P.M. PDT at ARCO Arena

Friday, July 29 vs. Los Angeles Sparks, 7:00 P.M. PDT at ARCO Arena

Sunday, July 31 vs. Minnesota Lynx, 6:00 P.M. PDT at ARCO Arena

Tuesday, August 2 at San Antonio Silver Stars, 5:00 P.M. PDT at SBC Center

*All games can be heard on Sports 1140 KHTK with Jim Kozimor and Krista Blunk calling the action.

Recent Transactions
7-25-05: Placed forward DeMya Walker (right medial collateral sprain) on injured reserve and guard Sui Feifei (left Achilles strain) on injured reserve and activated center Olympia Scott-Richardson and guard Miao Lijie.

7-18-05: Placed center Olympia Scott-Richardson (left knee strain) and guard Miao Lijie (lumbar strain) on injured reserve and activated forward/center Erin Buescher and guard Sui Feifei.

Did you Know?
Monarchs have the Best Start in Franchise History
Sacramento is off to their best start in franchise history at 14-7, surpassing the previously held best start set in 1999 and 2000.

Monarchs for Three (since 1999)
Sacramento has made at least one, 3-pointer in every game since the beginning of the 1999 season.
That's 217 consecutive games that the Monarchs have netted a 3-pointer, at least once, from behind the arc.

Double Digits

- DeMya Walker has scored in double figures in 19 of 19 games and has been the high-scorer for the Monarchs eight times.

- Yolanda Griffith has scored in double figures in 17 of 21 games and has been the high-scorer for the Monarchs seven times.

- Nicole Powell has scored in double figures in 10 of 21 games and has been the high-scorer for the Monarchs six times.

Monarchs Approaching Milestones
Hamchétou Maïga - played in her 100th career WNBA game, 7-24-05 vs. Detroit
Yolanda Griffith - 1 game away from her 200th

- 204 rebounds away from her 2,000th

- 18 offensive rebounds away from her 800th
Ticha Penicheiro - 8 points away from her 1,500th
- 9 free throws away from her 500th
Kara Lawson - 19 games away from her 100th

- 151 minutes away from her 2,000th

Seeing Double-Double
Yolanda Griffith has posted four double-doubles in 2005. She now has 76 double-doubles in her WNBA career.
Rebekkah Brunson scored her first career double-double, 7-24-05 vs. Detroit, with 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Griffith WNBA's All-Time Offensive Rebound Leader
Yolanda Griffith is the WNBA's all-time offensive rebound leader. She currently has 782 career offensive rebounds.

Penicheiro WNBA's All-Time Assist Leader
On June 17, 2004 at Minnesota, Ticha Penicheiro became the WNBA's all-time assist leader. She currently has 1,530 career assists.

Next Game:
Tuesday, July 26 vs. Charlotte Sting, 7:00 P.M. PDT at ARCO Arena
The Sting will visit ARCO Arena for the first time this season in the first of two meetings between Sacramento and Charlotte. This game is the second in a three-city road trip for the Sting and the third of five consecutive home games for the Monarchs. Charlotte has yet to win a game on the road in 2005.

2005 vs. Sting
July 26 Tuesday at Sacramento, 7:00 P.M. PDT
August 4 Thursday at Charlotte, 4:00 P.M. PDT

Regular Season Series Notes
Largest Sacramento victory: 76-60, 7-5-03 @ Sacramento (16)
Largest Charlotte victory: 85-61, 8-1-97 @ Charlotte (24)
Most Points, Sacramento: 85-82, 6-24-01 @ Charlotte
Fewest Points, Sacramento: 50-58, 6-27-98 @ Charlotte
Most Points, Charlotte 85-61, 8-1-97 @ Charlotte
Fewest Points, Charlotte: 58-50, 6-27-98 @ Charlotte
Longest winning streak, Sacramento: 6 games, 7-27-98 through 6-24-01
Longest winning streak, Charlotte: 3 games, 8-14-97 through 7-10-98
Monarchs last home win: 8-37-04, 62-61
Monarchs last road win: 6-24-01, 85-82
Current streak: Monarchs lost 1, last win 8-31-04 (62-61)

Quotables
Sacramento Monarchs Head Coach John Whisenant, July 31, 2004
We came back and didn't allow them pull down so many offensive rebounds. We got 13 offensive rebounds out of 28 total rebounds, and that gave us a lot of second chance shots.

Sacramento Monarchs guard Kara Lawson, July 31, 2004
We were down nine, and we kept shooting ourselves in the foot. It felt like we were missing all of the easy shots, but we knew that if we locked in defensively that we could get turnovers and easy buckets offensively.

Charlotte Sting Head Coach Trudi Lacey, July 31, 2004
We turned it over five out of six times down the stretch. We basically gave the game away. Our game is making people play against our half court defense, and we did a pretty good job at containing Sacramento's transition game. But it was our turnovers, they scored 19 points on our 22 turnovers and you just can't have that many turnovers with a team like that.

Monarchs/Sting Connections
Dawn Staley played with Yolanda Griffith on the gold medal-winning 2000 U.S. at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia they were also teammates for the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Tangela Smith was drafted by the Monarchs in 1998 and played for Sacramento for seven seasons before being traded to Charlotte at the beginning of the 2005 season for Nicole Powell, Erin Buescher, and Olympia Scott-Richardson.

Monarchs center Yolanda Griffith and Sting guard Dawn Staley competed as starters this season on the WNBA All-Star team. Monarchs forward DeMya Walker and Sting center Ann Wauters were reserves for their conferences.

Monarchs forward DeMya Walker and Sting guard Dawn Staley are both graduates of the University of Virginia. Staley graduated in 1992 and Walker graduated seven years later in 1999.

Monarchs guard Chelsea Newton and Sting center Tammy Sutton-Brown are both graduates of Rutgers University. Newton graduated this year and Sutton-Brown graduated in 2001.



Upcoming Games:
Vs. Los Angeles Sparks, July 29, 7:00 P.M. at ARCO Arena
The Sparks will travel to Sacramento for the last time this season to take on the Monarchs in the third of four meetings between the teams. The Monarchs defeated the Sparks at ARCO Arena on June 4, and the Sparks won at home in the STAPLES Center on June 11, tying the series at one game apiece.

2005 vs. Los Angeles
June 4 Saturday W, 81-53, at Sacramento
June 11 Saturday L, 74-81, at Los Angeles
July 29 Friday vs. Los Angeles, 7:00 P.M. PDT
August 16 Tuesday at Los Angeles, 7:00 P.M. PDT

Regular Season Series Notes
Largest Sacramento victory: 81-53, 6-4-05 @ Sacramento (28)
Largest Los Angeles victory: 87-65, 7-5-02 @ Los Angeles (22, three times) most recent
Most Points, Sacramento: 83-75, 7-31-03 @ Sacramento
Fewest Points, Sacramento: 52-65, 9-12-04 @ Los Angeles
Most Points, Los Angeles 100-78, 6-10-99 @ Los Angeles
Fewest Points, Los Angeles: 51-68, 6-3-04 @ Sacramento
Longest winning streak, Sacramento: 4 games, 6-28-03 through 7-17-04
Longest winning streak, Los Angeles: 10 games, 7-5-00 through 6-7-03
Monarchs last home win: 6-4-05, 81-53
Monarchs last road win: 7-17-04, 79-70
Current streak: Monarchs lost 1, last win 6-4-05 (81-53)

Quotables
Los Angeles Sparks head coach Henry Bibby, June 4, 2005 at Sacramento:
What I tried to emphasize to the girls was they knocked you out last year. You are playing for something. We didn't come up here just to show up. We came up to let Sacramento know that we are back and we're not happy with what you did to us last year. That's my thinking, but obviously we didn't approach it that way. They outplayed us and they outworked us. We know how good they are. I saw this team being the best defensive team I've seen on tape in a long time. They are the best defensive team I've seen in the WNBA. That's why they won the basketball game. They frustrate people and make you do things you don't normally do. We knew what type of game they were going to play today, we just didn't handle it the way a mature basketball team should.

On how Sacramento defended Lisa Leslie:
This is the way they play all big people. Before the game we said that no big player has scored double-figures against them. I was trying to get some excitement going there. They really help out and have a very good concept of defensive principals. They aren't going to let you score a lot of baskets in the paint. They force you to shoot the basketball outside and make it tough for you inside.

Los Angeles Sparks center Lisa Leslie, July 29, 2004 at Sacramento:
They did a good job. They out-hustled us. We need to win some of those battles - the loose balls.

We expected the triple teaming but I just thought we didn't do a really good job as a team executing.

Monarchs/Sparks Connections

Sparks forward Chamique Holdsclaw is a 1999 graduate of Tennessee, while four years later Monarchs guard Kara Lawson graduated in 2003.

The Monarchs' Yolanda Griffith was the starting center on the 2005 WNBA All-Star team on which the Sparks' Lisa Leslie was a reserve center. DeMya Walker of the Monarchs and Chamique Holdsclaw of the Sparks were both reserve forwards.

Monarchs forward Yolanda Griffith and guard Ticha Penicheiro were teammates with Sparks guards Tamecka Dixon and Nikki Teasley during the 2003-04 offseason as they all played for UMMC in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Monarchs guard Ticha Penicheiro joined Sparks players Lisa Leslie, Tamecka Dixon and Mwadi Mabika in the 2002 All-Star Game for the Western Conference.

Monarchs forward Yolanda Griffith and Sparks center Lisa Leslie were teammates on the gold medal-winning USA Basketball teams in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. In addition, Griffith, Leslie, and Sparks forward Chamique Holdsclaw were gold medalists in the 1999 U.S. Olympic Cup.



Sunday, July 31 vs. Minnesota, 6:00 P.M. PDT at ARCO Arena
The Monarchs will host the Lynx for the third of four meetings this season. The Monarchs are 2-0 against the Lynx in 2005, grabbing both a win at home and at Minnesota.

2005 vs. Lynx
May 29 Sunday W, 67-66 at Minnesota
June 17 Friday W, 67-50, at Sacramento
July 31 Sunday Sacramento vs. Minnesota, 6:00 p.m. PDT
August 27 Saturday Sacramento at Minnesota, 5:00 p.m. PDT

Regular Season Series Notes
Largest Sacramento victory: 91-52, 7-3-01 @ Minnesota (31)
Largest Minnesota victory: 77-59, 7-8-03 @ Minnesota (18)
Most Points, Sacramento: 91-52, 7-3-01 @ Minnesota
Fewest Points, Sacramento: 59-77, 7-8-03 @ Minnesota (twice, most recent)
Most Points, Minnesota: 83-73, 7-11-04 @ Minnesota
Fewest Points, Minnesota: 50-60, 6-17-04 @ Minnesota

Longest winning streak, Sacramento: 4 games, 6-28-00 through 7-3-01

Longest winning streak, Minnesota: 3 games, 7-8-03 through 5-22-04
Monarchs last home win: 6-17-05, 67-50
Monarchs last road win: 5-29-05, 67-66
Current streak: Monarchs won 3, last loss 7-11-04 (83-73 OT)

Quotables
Minnesota Head Coach Suzie McConnell Serio, June 17, 2005 vs. Minnesota:
They outplayed us for 40 minutes. We didn't execute well. We didn't defend well. We just didn't do what we needed to do to compete. It was very frustrating. Svetlana Abrosimova brought a lot of energy tonight. When we tried to make things happen, she was aggressive at both ends of the floor. She has always brought that kind of energy and tonight needed to be contagious. We had energy in spurts, but it just wasn't our night. They were more aggressive all over the floor. They got to the free-throw line more. We got outrebounded. It was almost as if our hands were tied.

On Katie Smith being held to only three points:
It was a game where Sacramento disrupted tempo and disrupted flow. We just didn't get Katie involved enough. Our team definitely feeds off Katie. We just weren't able to find her. We weren't able to execute offense well enough to get her involved.

Minnesota Guard, Katie Smith, May 29, 2005 at Minnesota:
It felt really good in the first half, and then we lost a lead and I don't think we took a lead until maybe two minutes left in the game. Defensively we didn't get stops and offensively we didn't execute as well, but defense was our biggest weakness throughout that period. We've got to find a way to get it done. They got some easy buckets on missed communications and in transition. It's just a matter of buckling down and getting it done."

Monarchs/Lynx Connections

Erin Buescher was originally drafted by the Minnesota Lynx 23rd overall in the 2001 WNBA Draft. She played one season with Minnesota, averaging 5.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.9 apg, 0.8 spg, 0.9 bpg and 22.7 mpg.

Minnesota guard Nuria Martinez was originally selected by the Monarchs in the third round (30th overall) of the 2004 WNBA Draft.

Katie Smith played with Yolanda Griffith on the gold medal-winning 2000 U.S. National Team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. They were also teammates for the 2004 Summer Olympics, where they also won gold.

Monarchs guard-forward Nicole Powell is a 2004 graduate of Stanford while Lynx guard Susan King Borchardt graduated in 2005. They played together for four seasons (2000-2004).

Monarchs guard-forward Erin Buescher played for the University of California Santa Barbara for three seasons (1997-2000). Lynx rookie forward Kristen Mann played at UCSB from 2000-2005.





Tuesday, August 2 at San Antonio Silver Stars, 5:00 P.M. PCT at SBC Center
The Monarchs will travel to San Antonio for the second and last time this season to play their third of four games against the Silver Stars. This season the Monarchs have defeated the Silver Stars both at home and at SBC Center giving Sacramento a 2-0 lead in the series.

2005 vs. Silver Stars
May 27 Friday W, 71-67, at San Antonio
July 14 Thursday W, 72-61, at Sacramento
August 2 Tuesday at San Antonio, 5:00 p.m. PDT
August 18 Thursday vs. San Antonio, 7:00 p.m. PDT

Regular Season Series Notes
Largest Sacramento victory: 107-69, 6-24-99 @ Sacramento (38)
Largest San Antonio victory: 69-57, 7-14-01 @ Utah (12)
Most Points, Sacramento: 107-69, 6-24-99 @ Sacramento
Fewest Points, Sacramento: 57-60, 6-24-02 @ Sacramento (twice, most recent)
Most Points, San Antonio: 97-89, 8-14-99 @ Sacramento
Fewest Points, San Antonio: 55-82, 8-15-98 @ Sacramento
Longest winning streak, Sacramento: 3 games, 9-2-04 through present (three times, most recent)
Longest winning streak, San Antonio: 3 games, 7-31-99 through 6-26-00
Monarchs last home win: 7-14-05, 72-61
Monarchs last road win: 5-27-05, 71-67
Current streak: Monarchs won 4, last loss 5-28-04 (72-63)

Quotables
Sacramento Monarchs Head Coach John Whisenant, July 14, 2005 at Sacramento:
We beat them by four the first time. Not playing for a few weeks made it a little harder. We had a long lay off. We played rusty. When it came down to it we were competitive and our defense shut them down. We got Maïga off the bench and she defended and got us key steals. It was a good team effort. I don't worry about who scores or not. I do my own stats. Our bench continues to get better. Kara Lawson is just getting healthy again. I think you'll see Kara shooting more often. DeMya was a little rusty but she got better.

Silver Stars head coach Dan Hughes, July 14, 2005 at Sacramento:
I think their bench played strong. I thought we did a pretty good job with some of their special players, but their depth hurt us. I need to give credit to their defense. We turned it over too much, but part of that was the way they defend. I think they put a lot of pressure on you to run your offense. If you told me we'd come into the game and shoot 46 percent and outrebound Sacramento, I'd feel pretty good about our chances.

San Antonio Silver Stars head coach Dan Hughes, May 27, 2005 at San Antonio:
Yolanda Griffith is the player that was the difference maker. She's a big time player. She is hard to guard and plays with a lot of pride.

Monarchs/Silver Stars Connections
Silver Stars center Chantelle Anderson (2003-2004) and guard Edna Campbell (2001-04) are both former members of the Monarchs.

Silver Stars guard Nikki McCray ('95) and forward Shyra Ely ('05) and Monarchs guard Kara Lawson ('03) all graduated from Tennessee. Ely and Lawson were teammates for two seasons (2001-03).

Forward Wendy Palmer-Daniel ('96) of the San Antonio and Sacramento forward DeMya Walker ('99) both graduated from Virginia and were teammates for one season (1995-96).




Recent Game Recaps:
July 24, 2005 vs. Detroit - W, 91-51 (ARCO Arena)
Coming off their first two back-to-back losses of the season, the Monarchs returned to their winning ways with a record-setting 91-51 defeat of the Detroit Shock at ARCO Arena. The margin of victory was the largest in franchise history and the fourth-largest in WNBA history. It was also the largest margin of defeat in Detroit franchise history.

Leading the way in the record books was Monarchs newcomer and WNBA Most Improved candidate Nicole Powell, who sunk a career-high 5-of-7 three pointers while accumulating a career-high 25 points. Rebekkah Brunson, who has been starting in place of injured forward DeMya Walker, recorded her first career double-double while scoring 11 points and grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds. Kara Lawson also contributed double-figure scoring with her season-high 14 points. And despite foul trouble early in the first half, WNBA MVP candidate Yolanda Griffith's 10 points made her the fourth Monarchs player to score in double figures.

After a 5-0 run to start the game, Detroit fell apart early and allowed Sacramento to make a comeback in the first half. The Shock stayed within striking distance, however. They were never down by more than seven and went into halftime down by only six (33-27). 21 seconds into the second half, the Monarchs went on a 17-2 run ignited by Powell's fourth three-pointer of the evening. For the remainder of the half, Sacramento steadily increased its lead to as many as 42 points. The Monarchs closed out the game on a 20-7 run, cementing the 40-point margin of victory.

Detroit's reserve forward Kara Braxton was the only Shock player to score in double figures (11). Deanna Nolan, who had been averaging over 16 points per game, was held to only eight against the Monarchs. Detroit (8-12) has lost 11 of it's last 14 games.

The Monarchs (14-7) remain on top of the Western Conference, two games ahead of the Houston Comets. Sacramento next plays host to the visiting Charlotte Sting on Tuesday, July 26, at 7:00 p.m. PDT at ARCO Arena.

July 22, 2005 vs. New York - L, 73-63 (ARCO Arena)
The Sacramento Monarchs hopes of remaining undefeated at home for the remainder of the season were lost as the New York Liberty defeated them 73-63. The Monarchs (13-7) tied the franchise record for fewest field goals in a half as they shot only 5-of-24 in the first. Sacramento's defense also lacked, allowing the Liberty to open the game with a 21-10 run. New York continued their offensive pressure and closed the half with a 10-point lead (30-20).

The Liberty dominated the ball again after intermission as they opened with a 17-6 run. Sacramento improved offensively and scored 43 points to match the New York effort for the half. But even a 14-6 run to close out the game was not enough for New York to relinquish the lead.

The Liberty (10-9) shot 56.0% overall from the field, helping them to even the season series at 1-1. Becky Hammon shot 3-of-6 from three-point range with a total of 15 points. Vickie Johnson grabbed four rebounds and scored 12 points. Other Liberty players scoring double figures included Ann Wauters (13) and Crystal Robinson (10).

Yolanda Griffith led the Monarchs with 18 points and four rebounds. Kara Lawson's 10 points made her the only other Sacramento player to score in double figures, all of her points came in the second half.


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