WNBA Notes

Published on July 16, 2004 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) News Release

THE FANS HAVE SPOKEN
Sports fans the world over had their voices heard at Wednesday's taping of the ESPY Awards, and they named Phoenix Mercury rookie Diana Taurasi the Best Female Athlete and the Best Female College Athlete, while the Seattle Storm's Lauren Jackson took home Best WNBA Player honors.

DEEP (THIRTY-)SIXED
Detroit's 36-point loss to the Houston Comets Thursday evening tied the WNBA record for the largest margin of defeat by a defending WNBA Champion. The Los Angeles Sparks originally set the dubious mark on August 6, 2003 when they fell to the Seattle Storm 92-56. The Storm are responsible for three of the top five margins of victory over a defending champion.

Largest Defeats of a WNBA Defending Champion
Date Defending Champ Opponent Margin
8/6/03 Los Angeles Sparks at Seattle Storm 36
7/15/04 Detroit Shock at Houston Comets 36
7/11/02 Los Angeles Sparks at Seattle Storm 19
8/14/01 Houston Comets at Phoenix Mercury 18
8/8/01 Houston Comets at Seattle Storm 17
8/9/03 Los Angeles at San Antonio 17
8/15/98 Houston Comets at New York Liberty 16
7/12/04 Detroit Shock vs. Sacramento Monarchs 16
7/20/01 Houston Comets at Miami Sol 14
7/18/99 Houston Comets at Los Angeles Sparks 13
7/18/02 Los Angeles at New York Liberty 13

WHO'S IN FIRST?
Five of the six teams in the WNBA's Eastern Conference have spent time in first place this season. That Washington Mystics are the lone exception, but they are just two games out of first at the moment. The New York Liberty, despite their late June slide, has had the conference's highest winning percentage for a conference-high 20 days this season.

Days With Eastern Conferences Highest Winning Percentage
Team Days
New York 20
Detroit 18
Charlotte 11
Indiana 10
Connecticut 8
Washington 0

The Charlotte Sting currently has the highest winning percentage in the Eastern Conference at .588. The lowest winning percentage to ever lead a conference at season's end is the .562 posted by the 1999 and 2002 New York Liberty and the 2002 Charlotte Sting.

Lowest Winning Percentages To Lead Conference
Team Conf Year W-L Pct
New York E 1999 18-14 .562
New York E 2002 18-14 .562
Charlotte E 2002 18-14 .562
Phoenix W 1997 16-12 .571
New York E 2000 20-12 .625
CLOSEST RACES
Only two games separate the last place Washington Mystics and New York Liberty from the front-running Charlotte Sting in the Eastern Conference. The smallest number of games separating a last place team from a first place team at season's end is three when the 1997 Houston Comets paced the Eastern Conference, while the Charlotte Sting and Cleveland Rockers finished just three games back.

Year Conf First Place W-L Last Place W-L GB
1997 East Houston 18-10 Cleveland/Charlotte* 15-13 3.0
1997 East Phoenix 16-12 Utah 7-21 9.0
2002 East New York/Charlotte 18-14 Detroit 9-23 9.0

* Charlotte had the tiebreaker over Cleveland and advanced to the 1997 WNBA Playoffs.

PUSHING 4 Gs
Los Angeles Sparks center Lisa Leslie is a few games away from establishing the WNBA's 4,000-point club. Heading into this weekend's action, the 6-5 Leslie has 3,919 points in her seven plus year career.

Player Gms Pts
Lisa Leslie 225 3,919
Tina Thompson 218 3,406
Andrea Stinson 237 3,259
Katie Smith 178 3,220
Sheryl Swoopes 184 3,133

"WNBA VS. USA BASKETBALL: THE GAME AT RADIO CITY"
Going For The Gold (Again)
Three players will be going for their third gold medal in Athens – Charlotte's Dawn Staley, Houston's Sheryl Swoopes and Los Angeles' Lisa Leslie. Two players will be going for their second gold medal in Athens – Minnesota's Katie Smith and Sacramento's Yolanda Griffith.

Youth Is Served
The Phoenix Mercury's Diana Taurasi is the only WNBA rookie on the team.

Scoring Options
Six of the top 10 scorers in the WNBA this season are members of the U.S. Women's Senior National Team –Taurasi (3rd, 18.0), Smith (T4th, 17.9), Tamika Catchings (T4th, 17.9), Swin Cash (6th, 17.3), Swoopes (7th, 15.6), Leslie (9th, 15.1).

Rebounding Options
Three of the top 10 rebounders in the WNBA this season are members of the U.S. Women's Senior National Team –Leslie (1st, 10.0), Griffith (6th, 7.4), Catchings (7th, 7.1).

Distribution Options
Four of the top 10 assist leaders in the WNBA this season are members of the U.S. Women's Senior National Team – Sue Bird (2nd, 5.8), Staley (6th, 4.3), Swin Cash (T7th, 4.1), Johnson (T7th, 4.1).

Hardware Store
The 12 members of the US Women's Senior National Team have between them 4 WNBA MVP awards, 1 Rookie of the Year Award, 4 All-Star Game MVP Awards, 2 Finals MVP Awards, 4 Defensive Player of the Year Awards, 33 All-WNBA selections and 34 All-Star appearances.

Setting the (Gold) Standard
The United States has set the standard by which all other countries basketball teams and players are judged, winning gold medals in five of the six Olympic Games in which they have participated.

2000 Gold 1996 Gold 1992 Bronze 1988 Gold
1984 Gold 1980 Olympic Boycott 1976 Gold

All-Star Starters
The starters for the team of WNBA All-Stars that will square off against the U.S. Women's Senior National Team were announced on Thursday evening. Could this starting five medal in Athens if they had the opportunity to represent the U.S.?

Connecticut forward Nykesha Sales, five-time WNBA All-Star, is the 12th leading scorer in WNBA history at 14.2 points per game.

Detroit forward Cheryl Ford, 2003 WNBA Rookie of the Year, is the leading rebounder in WNBA history averaging 10.1 boards per game.

Connecticut center Taj McWilliams-Franklin, three-time WNBA All-Star, is the ninth leading rebounder in WNBA history averaging 7.1 rebounds per game.

Los Angeles guard Nikki Teasley, 2003 WNBA All-Star Game MVP, leads the WNBA in assists this season at 6.0 per game and ranks fourth on the league's career three-point field goal percentage charts connecting on 40.9 percent of her attempts.

Phoenix guard Anna DeForge ranks fifth on the WNBA's career three-point field goal percentage charts (40.9) and is the eighth leading scorer in the league this season at 15.3 points per game.

Connecticut Pipeline
If there is any doubt about the dominance of the UConn women's basketball program, one need only look at the members of the US National Team and the starters for the team of WNBA All-Stars. Former UConn stars Sue Bird, Swin Cash are current members of the National Team, and Nykesha Sales was recently named an All-Star starter.

Women's National Basketball Association Stories from July 16, 2004

• Charlotte Sting Assistant Coach Fred Williams Resigns - Charlotte Sting
• New York Liberty Sign La'Keshia Frett to Replacement Contract - New York Liberty
• WNBA Notes - WNBA

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.