1998 Phoenix Mercury season

The 1998 WNBA season was the second season for the Phoenix Mercury. The Mercury reached their first WNBA Finals, but championship hopes were denied when they lost to the Houston Comets in three games.

Transactions

Detroit Shock expansion draft The following player was selected in the Detroit Shock expansion draft from the Phoenix Mercury: Player Nationality School/Team/Country Tara Williams Auburn

WNBA draft

Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country 1 8 Maria Stepanova CSKA Moscow (Russia) 2 18 Andrea Kuklová Pays d'Aix Basket 13 (France)328Brandy ReedSouthern Miss438Karen WilkinsHoward

Transactions DateTransaction February 18, 1998 Lost Tara Williams to the Detroit Shock in the WNBA expansion draft. April 29, 1998 Drafted Maria Stepanova, Andrea Kuklová, Brandy Reed and Karen Wilkins in the 1998 WNBA draft May 29, 1998 Waived Monique Ambers May 30, 1998 Waived Karen WilkinsJune 4, 1998Waived Tawona AlhaleemJune 10, 1998Waived Tia JacksonJuly 6, 1998Traded Pauline Jordan to the Sacramento Monarchs in exchange for Tiffani JohnsonJuly 31, 1998Waived Mikiko Hagiwara

Roster

Schedule

Regular season

| 1 | June 11 | @ Sacramento | W 73–70 | Jennifer Gillom (20) | Brandy Reed (8) | Umeki Webb (8) | ARCO Arena | 1–0 |- | 2 | June 14 | Los Angeles | W 70–60 | Jennifer Gillom (20) | Jennifer Gillom (6) | Umeki Webb (4) | America West Arena | 2–0 |- | 3 | June 15 | Washington | W 69–54 | Jennifer Gillom (19) | Jennifer Gillom (11) | Michele Timms (4) | America West Arena | 3–0 |- | 4 | June 21 | Charlotte | L 71–72 | Bridget Pettis (20) | Michelle Brogan (9) | Gillom Webb (3) | America West Arena | 3–1 |- | 5 | June 24 | Houston | W 69–66 | Bridget Pettis (20) | Michelle Brogan (7) | Michele Timms (8) | America West Arena | 4–1 |- | 6 | June 26 | Utah | W 96–63 | Jennifer Gillom (19) | Marlies Askamp (8) | Umeki Webb (6) | America West Arena | 5–1 |- | 7 | June 28 | @ Washington | W 86–69 | Bridget Pettis (23) | Jennifer Gillom (8) | Kristi Harrower (7) | MCI Center | 6–1 |- | 8 | June 29 | @ New York | L 68–71 | Michelle Brogan (15) | Michelle Brogan (5) | Michele Timms (5) | Madison Square Garden | 6–2

| 9 | July 2 | @ Cleveland | W 76–61 | Jennifer Gillom (29) | Jennifer Gillom (8) | Michele Timms (5) | Gund Arena | 7–2 |- | 10 | July 4 | @ Charlotte | L 66–68 | Jennifer Gillom (21) | Bridget Pettis (7) | Michele Timms (9) | Charlotte Coliseum | 7–3 |- | 11 | July 8 | @ Detroit | W 78–76 | Jennifer Gillom (24) | Jennifer Gillom (10) | Michele Timms (8) | The Palace of Auburn Hills | 8–3 |- | 12 | July 10 | Cleveland | W 76–60 | Jennifer Gillom (28) | Marlies Askamp (11) | Michele Timms (8) | America West Arena | 9–3 |- | 13 | July 13 | Los Angeles | W 72–62 | Jennifer Gillom (27) | Jennifer Gillom (9) | Michele Timms (5) | America West Arena | 10–3 |- | 14 | July 15 | Detroit | W 73–60 | Jennifer Gillom (17) | Michelle Brogan (6) | Michele Timms (5) | America West Arena | 11–3 |- | 15 | July 18 | New York | L 63–69 | Michelle Brogan (14) | Jennifer Gillom (6) | Michele Timms (8) | America West Arena | 11–4 |- | 16 | July 20 | Sacramento | W 88–67 | Bridget Pettis (18) | Brogan Gillom Webb (6) | Michele Timms (9) | America West Arena | 12–4 |- | 17 | July 21 | Houston | L 62–65 | Jennifer Gillom (24) | Jennifer Gillom (11) | Michele Timms (6) | America West Arena | 12–5 |- | 18 | July 23 | @ Los Angeles | L 68–70 | Jennifer Gillom (27) | Jennifer Gillom (9) | Jennifer Gillom (4) | Great Western Forum | 12–6 |- | 19 | July 27 | @ Utah | L 80–90 | Jennifer Gillom (31) | Michelle Brogan (7) | Michele Timms (6) | Delta Center | 12–7 |- | 20 | July 28 | @ Houston | L 62–72 | Jennifer Gillom (23) | Jennifer Gillom (13) | Timms Webb (3) | Compaq Center | 12–8 |- | 21 | July 31 | @ Los Angeles | L 56–71 | Jennifer Gillom (23) | Jennifer Gillom (10) | Bridget Pettis (4) | Great Western Forum | 12–9

| 22 | August 4 | Washington | W 88–59 | Jennifer Gillom (21) | Marlies Askamp (8) | Harrower Timms (4) | America West Arena | 13–9 |- | 23 | August 6 | @ Houston | L 64–75 | Jennifer Gillom (19) | Brandy Reed (6) | Kuklová Timms Webb (3) | Compaq Center | 13–10 |- | 24 | August 8 | Utah | W 68–62 | Bridget Pettis (21) | Gillom Pettis (8) | Michele Timms (9) | America West Arena | 14–10 |- | 25 | August 10 | Cleveland | W 82–80 (2OT) | Jennifer Gillom (38) | Jennifer Gillom (8) | Michele Timms (7) | America West Arena | 15–10 |- | 26 | August 11 | @ New York | L 78–79 (OT) | Jennifer Gillom (21) | Jennifer Gillom (7) | Brogan Pettis Timms (4) | Madison Square Garden | 15–11 |- | 27 | August 14 | Detroit | W 84–59 | Gillom Pettis (23) | Bridget Pettis (7) | Michele Timms (7) | America West Arena | 16–11 |- | 28 | August 16 | @ Monarchs | W 85–69 | Jennifer Gillom (25) | Michelle Brogan (8) | Umeki Webb (5) | ARCO Arena | 17–11 |- | 29 | August 17 | @ Utah | W 75–64 | Jennifer Gillom (20) | Gillom Reed Webb (7) | Michele Timms (7) | Delta Center | 18–11 |- | 30 | August 19 | Monarchs | W 71–62 | Jennifer Gillom (18) | Jennifer Gillom (8) | Michele Timms (4) | America West Arena | 19–11

Playoffs

|- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 1 | August 22 | Cleveland | W 78–68 | Jennifer Gillom (21) | Gillom Reed (5) | Umeki Webb (6) | America West Arena | 1–0 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 | August 24 | @ Cleveland | L 66–67 | Jennifer Gillom (27) | Jennifer Gillom (10) | Michele Timms (6) | Gund Arena | 1–1 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 3 | August 25 | @ Cleveland | W 71–60 | Bridget Pettis (27) | Bridget Pettis (11) | Michele Timms (8) | Gund Arena | 2–1

|- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 1 | August 27 | @ Phoenix | W 54–51 | Jennifer Gillom (15) | Michelle Brogan (12) | Michele Timms (5) | America West Arena | 1–0 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 | August 29 | Phoenix | L 69–74 (OT) | Michele Timms (21) | Jennifer Gillom (9) | Michelle Brogan (3) | Compaq Center | 1–1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 3 | September 1 | Phoenix | L 71–80 | Michelle Brogan (24) | Jennifer Gillom (6) | Michele Timms (7) | Compaq Center | 1–2

Season standings

Statistics

Regular season Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG Jennifer Gillom 30 30 32.1 .465 .378 .703 7.3 1.4 1.7 0.3 20.9 Michele Timms 30 30 31.1 .318 .298 .694 2.5 5.3 1.3 0.1 6.9 Bridget Pettis 30 28 28.3 .377 .285 .865 3.4 2.1 1.0 0.3 11.3 Umeki Webb 30 30 28.2 .363 .286 .661 3.9 3.1 1.6 0.7 5.3 Michelle Brogan 30 25 26.0 .505 .478 .796 4.4 1.4 1.5 0.2 9.2 Toni Foster 16 5 13.6 .467 N/A .767 1.9 1.2 0.9 0.3 4.9 Marlies Askamp 26 0 12.3 .471 N/A .661 3.3 0.5 0.5 0.3 5.3 Kristi Harrower 30 0 11.8 .365 .344 .750 0.7 1.7 0.5 0.1 2.3 Andrea Kuklová 29 2 11.7 .400 .143 .556 1.3 1.1 0.6 0.1 3.3 Brandy Reed 24 0 10.6 .526 .250 .710 3.3 0.8 0.8 0.3 5.2 Maria Stepanova 20 0 6.5 .426 N/A .636 1.9 0.4 0.2 0.6 3.3Mikiko Hagiwara1005.9.381.333.6670.20.30.00.02.2Pauline Jordan605.0 .625N/A.7140.80.70.00.02.5 ‡Waived/Released during the season †Traded during the season ≠Acquired during the season

References

External links Mercury on Basketball Reference