2001 WNBA Championship

Women's basketball series August 2023 2001 WNBA Finals logo.png WNBA 2001 Charlotte Sting Anne Donovan 0 Los Angeles Sparks Michael Cooper 2 August 30-September 1 Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks) Sparks:Lisa Leslie (2015)Sting:Dawn Staley (2013)Coaches:Michael Cooper (2024, player)Anne Donovan (1995, player) Charlotte defeated New York, 2–1 Los Angeles defeated Sacramento, 2–1 The 2001 WNBA Championship was the championship series of the 2001 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Los Angeles Sparks, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, defeated the Charlotte Sting, fourth-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, two games to none in a best-of-three series. This was Los Angeles' first title. The Sparks made their first appearance in the Finals in franchise history. The Sting also made their first Finals appearance. Going into the series, no other team except the Houston Comets had ever won a WNBA championship (1997-2000). The Sparks had a 28–4 record (.875), good enough to receive home-court advantage over the Sting (18–14). It did not matter, however, as the Sparks swept the Sting. Road to the finals Los Angeles SparksCharlotte Sting28–4 (.875)1st West, 1st overall Regular season18–14 (.562)4th East, 8th overallDefeated the (4) Houston Comets, 2–0 Conference SemifinalsDefeated the (1) Cleveland Rockers, 2–1Defeated the (2) Sacramento Monarchs, 2–1 Conference FinalsDefeated the (2) New York Liberty, 2–1 Regular season series The Sparks won the regular season series: #eee June 2 https://web.archive.org/web/20011006192013/http://www.wnba.com/games2001/20010602/LOSCHA/boxscore.html October 6, 2001 Recap Los Angeles Sparks |score1=76 Charlotte Sting 67 Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte 12,843 #eee June 19 https://web.archive.org/web/20011214070457/http://www.wnba.com/games2001/20010619/CHALOS/boxscore.html December 14, 2001 Recap Charlotte Sting 69 Los Angeles Sparks |score2=73 Staples Center, Los Angeles 8,823 Game summaries All times listed below are Eastern Daylight Time. Game 1 #eee August 30 https://web.archive.org/web/20011006195426/http://www.wnba.com/games2001/20010830/LOSCHA/boxscore.html October 6, 2001 Recap Los Angeles Sparks 75 66 Charlotte Sting 35–39 40–27 Leslie (24) Stinson (18) Leslie, Milton (8) Feaster (5) Milton (5) Stinson (5) Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte 16,132 Melissa Barlow Michael Price Gary Zielinski ESPN L.A Sparks leads series, 1–0 Game 2 #eee September 1 https://web.archive.org/web/20011031144041/http://www.wnba.com/games2001/20010901/CHALOS/boxscore.html October 31, 2001 Recap Charlotte Sting 54 82 Los Angeles Sparks 30–38 24–44 Sutton-Brown (12) Leslie (24) Smith (8) Leslie (13) Staley (5) Dixon (7) STAPLES Center, Los Angeles 13,141 Patty Broderick June Corteau Bob Trammell NBC L.A Sparks wins WNBA Finals, 2–0 Awards 2001 WNBA champion: Los Angeles Sparks Finals MVP: Lisa Leslie Rosters 2001 Los Angeles Sparks Finals WNBA #5c2f83 #FFC322 #FFC322 #FFFFFF 00 Latasha Byears F 5 11 206 DePaul USA 21 Tamecka Dixon G 5 9 148 Kansas USA 5 Ukari Figgs G 5 9 142 Purdue USA 17 Vedrana Grgin-Fonseca F 6 1 160 Croatia Croatia 9 Lisa Leslie C 6 5 170 USC USA 40 Nicole Levandusky G 5 8 163 Xavier USA 4 Mwadi Mabika F 5 11 165 Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo 51 Rhonda Mapp C 6 2 190 North Carolina State USA 10 Nicky McCrimmon G 5 8 125 USC USA 8 Delisha Milton F 6 1 172 Florida USA 20 Wendy Willits G 5 7 141 Arkansas USA USA Michael Cooper New Mexico USA Glenn McDonald 1 2001 Charlotte Sting Finals WNBA #0196B0 #FFFFFF #4B0082 #FFFFFF 20 Keisha Anderson G 5 7 125 Wisconsin USA 13 Tonya Edwards G 5 10 160 Tennessee USA 7 Shalonda Enis F 6 1 185 Alabama USA 3 Summer Erb C 6 6 240 North Carolina State USA 21 Allison Feaster F 5 11 168 Harvard University USA 33 Clarisse Machanguana C 6 5 180 Old Dominion Mozambique 8 Kelly Miller Kelly Miller (basketball) G 5 9 144 Georgia USA 23 Charlotte Smith Charlotte Smith (basketball) F 6 0 148 North Carolina USA 5 Dawn Staley G 5 6 134 Virginia USA 32 Andrea Stinson G 5 10 158 North Carolina State USA 55 Tammy Sutton-Brown C 6 4 203 Rutgers CAN USA Anne Donovan Old Dominion University USA Trudi Lacey 1 USA Cheryl Reeve 1 Finals Category:Los Angeles Sparks Category:Charlotte Sting WNBA Championship WNBA Championship Category:WNBA Finals WNBA Championship WNBA Championship Category:Basketball competitions in Charlotte, North Carolina Category:Basketball competitions in Los Angeles