1997 WNBA Championship

First championship of the WNBA March 2026 August 2023 WNBA 1997 WNBA Championship 1997 1997 WNBA Finals logo.png Houston Comets Van Chancellor 1 New York Liberty Nancy Darsch 0 August 30 Cynthia Cooper (Houston Comets) Comets:Cynthia Cooper (2010)Sheryl Swoopes (2016)Tina Thompson (2018)Liberty:Rebecca Lobo (2017)Teresa Weatherspoon (2019)Coaches:Van Chancellor (2007) New York defeated Phoenix 59-41 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.https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/01/sports/wnba-surpasses-its-goals.html W.N.B.A. Surpasses Its Goals The New York Times Tarik El-Basher September 1, 1997 March 20, 2026https://andscape.com/features/houston-comets-won-wnba-inaugural-championship/ When the Houston Comets won the WNBA’s inaugural championship Andscape Rhiannon Walker August 30, 2017 March 20, 2026https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/years/1997.html 1997 WNBA Season Summary Basketball Reference March 20, 2026 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 CometsNew York Liberty18–10 (.643)1st East, 1st overallRegular season17–11 (.607)2nd East, 2nd overallDefeated the (4) Charlotte Sting, 70-54WNBA SemifinalsDefeated the (3) Phoenix Mercury, 59-41 Regular season series The Liberty won 3 of the 4 games in the regular season series: #eee June 26 https://web.archive.org/web/19980208050346/http://www.wnba.com/boxscores/062697/newyork_houston.html February 8, 1998 Recap New York Liberty |score1=62 Houston Comets 60 (OT) Compaq Center, Houston 8,931 #fff July 2 https://web.archive.org/web/19980208050612/http://www.wnba.com/boxscores/070297/houston_newyork.html February 8, 1998 Recap Houston Comets 67 New York Liberty |score2=70 Madison Square Garden, New York 8,792 #eee July 4 https://web.archive.org/web/19980208050732/http://www.wnba.com/boxscores/070497/newyork_houston.html February 8, 1998 Recap New York Liberty |score1=65 Houston Comets 58 Compaq Center, Houston 10,239 #fff August 17 https://web.archive.org/web/19980208062116/http://www.wnba.com/boxscores/081797/houston_newyork.html February 8, 1998 Recap Houston Comets |score1=70 New York Liberty 55 Madison Square Garden, New York 17,499 Game summary Time listed below is Eastern Daylight Time. #eee August 30 7:00pm https://web.archive.org/web/19980208044354/http://www.wnba.com/boxscores/083097/newyork_houston.html February 8, 1998 Recap New York Liberty 51 65 24–28 27–37 Houston Comets Hampton (13) Cooper (25) Hampton (13) Jackson (11) Weatherspoon (5) Cooper (4) Compaq Center, Houston 16,285 Bell Courteau Palmer NBC 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 WNBA #B22222 #D3D3D3 #D3D3D3 #FFFFFF 4 Janeth Arcain F 5 11 147 Brazil BRA 14 Cynthia Cooper Cynthia Cooper-Dyke G 5 10 150 USC USA 9 Wanda Guyton F 6 1 178 South Florida USA 20 Fran Harris G 6 0 153 Texas USA 23 Tammy Jackson F 6 2 190 Florida USA 33 Yolanda Moore F 6 0 175 Mississippi USA 10 Kim Perrot G 5 5 130 Southwestern Louisiana USA 22 Sheryl Swoopes F 6 0 145 Texas Tech USA 7 Tina Thompson F 6 2 178 USC USA 5 Tiffany Woosley G 5 7 132 Tennessee USA USA Van Chancellor Mississippi State 1997 New York Liberty Finals WNBA #0047AB #FFFFFF #66CDAA #FF4500 10 Rhonda Blades G 5 7 138 Vanderbilt USA 22 Cassandra Crumpton-Moorer G 5 11 175 Alabama USA 5 Kisha Ford G 5 10 153 Georgia Tech USA 34 Kym Hampton C 6 2 210 Arizona State USA 55 Vickie Johnson G 5 9 150 Louisiana Tech USA 50 Rebecca Lobo C 6 4 185 Connecticut USA 33 Trena Trice F 6 2 180 North Carolina State USA 11 Teresa Weatherspoon G 5 8 161 Louisiana Tech USA 23 Sue Wicks F 6 3 174 Rutgers USA 13 Sophia Witherspoon G 5 10 145 Florida USA USA Nancy Darsch Springfield College References External links Basketball-Reference.com – 1997 WNBA Finals WNBA.com – 1997 WNBA Finals Finals Category:Houston Comets Category:New York Liberty WNBA Championship WNBA Championship Category:WNBA Finals WNBA Championship Category:Basketball competitions in Houston Category:1997 in Houston Category:Basketball competitions in New York City