1997 WNBA Championship

1997 WNBA Championship

Team Coach Wins Houston Comets Van Chancellor 1 New York Liberty Nancy Darsch 0
Dates	August 30
MVP	Cynthia Cooper (Houston Comets)
Hall of Famers	Comets: Cynthia Cooper (2010) Sheryl Swoopes (2016) Tina Thompson (2018) Liberty: Rebecca Lobo (2017) Teresa Weatherspoon (2019) Coaches: Van Chancellor (2007)
Eastern finals	New York defeated Phoenix 59-41
Western finals	Houston defeated Charlotte 70-54

The 1997 WNBA Championship was the championship game of the 1997 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Houston Comets, top-seeded team of the league, defeated the New York Liberty, second-seeded team, 65-51 to win the league's inaugural championship.

The Comets' 18–10 record gave them home court advantage over New York (17–11).

For the playoffs, the top four teams overall in the league were seeded one to four. Top seed Houston played the four seed Charlotte and the two seed New York played number three Phoenix.

Road to the final

Houston Comets		New York Liberty
18–10 (.643) 1st East, 1st overall	Regular season	17–11 (.607) 2nd East, 2nd overall
Defeated the (4) Charlotte Sting, 70-54	WNBA Semifinals	Defeated the (3) Phoenix Mercury, 59-41

Regular season series

The Liberty won 3 of the 4 games in the regular season series:

June 26

Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived February 8, 1998)

New York Liberty 62, Houston Comets 60 (OT)

Compaq Center, Houston

July 2

Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived February 8, 1998)

Houston Comets 67, New York Liberty 70

Madison Square Garden, New York

July 4

Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived February 8, 1998)

New York Liberty 65, Houston Comets 58

Compaq Center, Houston

August 17

Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived February 8, 1998)

Houston Comets 70, New York Liberty 55

Madison Square Garden, New York

Game summary

Time listed below is Eastern Daylight Time.

NBC

August 30 7:00pm

Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived February 8, 1998)

New York Liberty 51, Houston Comets 65
Scoring by half: 24–28, 27–37
Pts: Hampton (13) Rebs: Hampton (13) Asts: Weatherspoon (5)		Pts: Cooper (25) Rebs: Jackson (11) Asts: Cooper (4)

Compaq Center, Houston Attendance: 16,285 Referees: Bell Courteau Palmer

The Houston Comets became the first WNBA champions, riding the unstoppable Cynthia Cooper and a suffocating defense to a 65–51 victory over the New York Liberty.

Cooper, the fledgling league's leading scorer who was named Most Valuable Player earlier in the week, scored 14 of her 25 points in the pivotal second half, when the Comets had a 10–0 burst and held the Liberty scoreless for nearly 6½ minutes. Tina Thompson added 18 points for the Comets, who turned Houston into "Clutch City" again. The city adopted that nickname during the two-year championship reign of the NBA's Houston Rockets.

Cooper also was named Finals MVP as the sellout crowd of 16,285 saw the Comets come up with their best defensive effort of the season.

Kym Hampton had 13 points and 13 rebounds and Vickie Johnson added 12 points for the Liberty, who picked a bad time for one of their worst offensive displays. A meaningless basket with three seconds remaining by Rebecca Lobo—who was limited to nine points—allowed New York to avoid its lowest point total of the season.

Houston, which edged New York for the Eastern Conference title and knocked off Charlotte in the semifinals, finished the regular season 18–10. The Liberty, who advanced with a semifinal win at Phoenix, were 17–11.

Awards

• 1997 WNBA Champion: Houston Comets
• Finals MVP: Cynthia Cooper

Rosters

1997 Houston Comets Finals roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight From F 4 Arcain, Janeth 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 147 lb (67 kg) Brazil G 14 Cooper, Cynthia 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 150 lb (68 kg) USC F 9 Guyton, Wanda 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 178 lb (81 kg) South Florida G 20 Harris, Fran 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 153 lb (69 kg) Texas F 23 Jackson, Tammy 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Florida F 33 Moore, Yolanda 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Mississippi G 10 Perrot, Kim 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) 130 lb (59 kg) Southwestern Louisiana F 22 Swoopes, Sheryl 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 145 lb (66 kg) Texas Tech F 7 Thompson, Tina 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 178 lb (81 kg) USC G 5 Woosley, Tiffany 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 132 lb (60 kg) Tennessee	Head coach Van Chancellor (Mississippi State) Assistant coaches Unknown Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured

1997 New York Liberty Finals roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight From G 10 Blades, Rhonda 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 138 lb (63 kg) Vanderbilt G 22 Crumpton-Moorer, Cassandra 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Alabama G 5 Ford, Kisha 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 153 lb (69 kg) Georgia Tech C 34 Hampton, Kym 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Arizona State G 55 Johnson, Vickie 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Louisiana Tech C 50 Lobo, Rebecca 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Connecticut F 33 Trice, Trena 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) NC State G 11 Weatherspoon, Teresa 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 161 lb (73 kg) Louisiana Tech F 23 Wicks, Sue 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 174 lb (79 kg) Rutgers G 13 Witherspoon, Sophia 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 145 lb (66 kg) Florida	Head coach Nancy Darsch (Springfield) Assistant coaches Unknown Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured

External links

• Basketball-Reference.com – 1997 WNBA Finals
• WNBA.com – 1997 WNBA Finals