Wikipedia

1997 Los Angeles Sparks season

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.

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

Offseason edit

Initial Player Allocation edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

1997 Game Log
June
Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record
1 June 21 New York L 57-67 Leslie (16) Leslie (14) Wideman (6) Great Western Forum 0-1
2 June 23 @ Utah L 89-102 Leslie (22) Leslie (10) Wideman (7) Delta Center 0-2
3 June 25 Charlotte W 74-54 Leslie (19) Leslie, Toler (5) Toler (7) Great Western Forum 1-2
4 June 27 Sacramento W 93-73 Haixia (28) Haixia (10) Toler, Wideman (7) Great Western Forum 2-2
5 June 30 @ Houston L 66-71 (OT) Leslie (21) Leslie (16) Toler (5) The Summit 2-3
July
Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record
6 July 3 @ Cleveland W 74-62 Leslie (19) Leslie (7) Wideman (6) Gund Arena 3-3
7 July 5 @ Charlotte L 66-78 Leslie (16) Leslie, Toler (7) Wideman (6) Charlotte Coliseum 3-4
8 July 7 Cleveland L 70-81 Leslie (22) Leslie (9) Wideman (8) Great Western Forum 3-5
9 July 11 Utah W 75-68 Burgess (20) Burge, Burgess (9) Leslie, Toler (6) Great Western Forum 4-5
10 July 13 Phoenix L 56-57 Burgess (12) Burge (11) Burge, Toler, Dixon, Charles, Colleton (2) Great Western Forum 4-6
11 July 15 @ Sacramento L 73-78 Leslie (17) Burgess, Leslie (5) Toler (10) Arco Arena 4-7
12 July 16 Houston W 77-52 Haixia (15) Leslie (10) Leslie (5) Great Western Forum 5-7
13 July 19 @ New York L 57-69 Toler (14) Leslie (7) Wideman (4) Madison Square Garden 5-8
14 July 21 @ Charlotte L 64-75 Leslie (18) Toler (8) Leslie, Toler (4) Charlotte Coliseum 5-9
15 July 23 Cleveland L 85-89 Leslie (28) Leslie (13) Colleton (5) Great Western Forum 5-10
16 July 25 @ Phoenix W 86-83 (OT) Leslie (17) Leslie (8) Toler, Wideman (4) America West Arena 6-10
17 July 27 @ Sacramento W 84-62 Dixon (20) Leslie (9) Toler (9) Arco Arena 7-10
18 July 30 Utah W 91-69 Leslie (23) Leslie (11) Leslie (7) Great Western Forum 8-10
August
Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record
19 August 1 Houston L 57-81 Toler (17) Leslie (6) Toler (3) Great Western Forum 8-11
20 August 3 Charlotte L 70-77 Toler (19) Leslie (10) Toler (7) Great Western Forum 8-12
21 August 5 @ New York W 67-50 Toler, Dixon (16) Leslie (14) Toler (3) Madison Square Garden 9-12
22 August 7 @ Cleveland W 87-84 (2OT) Dixon (23) Leslie (14) Leslie (5) Gund Arena 10-12
23 August 9 @ Houston L 71-72 Dixon (21) Haixia (7) Toler (4) The Summit 10-13
24 August 16 @ Utah W 74-64 Leslie (23) Leslie (12) Toler (8) Delta Center 11-13
25 August 18 Phoenix W 75-66 Leslie (26) Leslie (15) Toler (8) Great Western Forum 12-13
26 August 20 New York W 78-76 Toler (17) Haixia (9) Toler (6) Great Western Forum 13-13
27 August 22 Sacramento W 88-77 Haixia (21) Leslie (12) Toler (8) Great Western Forum 14-13
28 August 24 @ Phoenix L 68-73 (OT) Dixon (25) Leslie (14) Toler (4) America West Arena 14-14

Player stats edit

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 edit

  • 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 edit

  1. ^ "WNBA.com: All-Time WNBA Draft List". Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2008.
  2. ^ "Los Angeles Sparks Draft History". WNBA.com. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  3. ^ "News Archive".
  4. ^ "1997 Los Angeles Sparks Stats".
  5. ^ a b "1997 WNBA Season Summary".
  6. ^ "Postseason Awards: 1997". WNBA.com. Retrieved September 4, 2022.

Sparks on Basketball Reference

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