1997 Houston Comets season

The 1997 WNBA season was the first season for the Houston Comets. The Comets won the inaugural WNBA Finals.

1997 Houston Comets season
CoachVan Chancellor
ArenaThe Summit
Attendance9,703 per game
Results
Record18–10 (.643)
Place1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishWon WNBA Finals

Transactions

WNBA allocation draft
Player Nationality School/Team/Country
Cynthia Cooper  United States USC
Sheryl Swoopes  United States Texas Tech

WNBA elite draft
See also: WNBA elite draft
Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country
1 5 Wanda Guyton  United States South Florida
2 13 Janeth Arcain  Brazil Brazil

WNBA draft
See also: 1997 WNBA draft
Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country
1 1 Tina Thompson  United States USC
2 16 Tammy Jackson  United States Florida
3 17 Racquel Spurlock  United States Louisiana Tech
4 32 Catarina Pollini  Italy Texas

Transactions
Date Transaction
January 22, 1997 Drafted Cynthia Cooper and Sheryl Swoopes in the 1997 WNBA Allocation Draft[1]
February 27, 1997 Drafted Wanda Guyton and Janeth Arcain in the 1997 WNBA Elite Draft[1]
April 28, 1997 Drafted Tina Thompson, Tammy Jackson, Racquel Spurlock and Catarina Pollini in the 1997 WNBA Draft[1]
Hired Van Chancellor as Head Coach[1]

Roster
1997 Houston Comets roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
G 9 Arcain, Janeth 5' 11" (1.8m) 147 lb (67kg) 1969-04-11 R
G 14 Cooper, Cynthia 5' 10" (1.78m) 150 lb (68kg) 1963-04-14 USC R
G/F 8 Gay, Pietra 5' 11" (1.8m) – 1974-08-21 LSU R
C 4 Guyton, Wanda 6' 1" (1.85m) 178 lb (81kg) 1968-10-14 South Florida R
G/F 20 Harris, Fran 6' 0" (1.83m) 153 lb (69kg) 1965-03-12 Texas R
F/C 23 Jackson, Tammy 6' 2" (1.88m) 190 lb (86kg) 1962-12-03 Florida R
F/C 33 Moore, Yolanda 6' 0" (1.83m) 175 lb (79kg) 1974-07-01 Mississippi R
G 10 Perrot, Kim 5' 5" (1.65m) 130 lb (59kg) 1967-01-18 Louisiana R
F 11 Pollini, Catarina 6' 5" (1.96m) – 1966-03-16 Texas R
G/F 22 Swoopes, Sheryl 6' 0" (1.83m) 145 lb (66kg) 1971-03-25 Texas Tech R
F 7 Thompson, Tina 6' 2" (1.88m) 178 lb (81kg) 1975-02-10 USC R
G 5 Woosley, Tiffany 5' 7" (1.7m) 132 lb (60kg) 1973-04-26 Tennessee R
Head coach
Van Chancellor (Mississippi State)
Assistant coaches
Peggie Gillom



Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Schedule

Regular season
1997 game log
Total: 18–10 (Home: 9–5; Road: 9–5)
June: 4–1 (Home: 2–1; Road: 2–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
1 June 21 @ Cleveland W 76–56 Cynthia Cooper (25) Cynthia Cooper (8) Cynthia Cooper (2) Gund Arena 1–0
2 June 24 Phoenix W 72–55 Janeth Arcain (23) Janeth Arcain (8) Cynthia Cooper (3) The Summit 2–0
3 June 26 New York L 60–62 (OT) Cynthia Cooper (20) Wanda Guyton (9) Cynthia Cooper (3) The Summit 2–1
4 June 28 @ Utah W 76–58 Cynthia Cooper (20) Wanda Guyton (9) Cynthia Cooper (3) Delta Center 3–1
5 June 30 Los Angeles W 71–66 (OT) Janeth Arcain (17) Tammy Jackson (8) Cynthia Cooper (5) The Summit 4–1
July : 6–5 (Home: 3–2; Road: 3–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
6 July 2 @ New York L 67–72 Cynthia Cooper (19) Wanda Guyton (8) Cynthia Cooper (6) Madison Square Garden 4–2
7 July 4 New York L 58–65 Tina Thompson (15) Arcain
Harris (7)		 Cynthia Cooper (8) The Summit 4–3
8 July 7 Charlotte W 74–56 Cynthia Cooper (21) Tina Thompson (9) Cynthia Cooper (6) The Summit 5–3
9 July 9 @ Phoenix L 64–69 Cynthia Cooper (16) Tina Thompson (7) Kim Perrot (4) America West Arena 5–4
10 July 12 Sacramento W 89–61 Cynthia Cooper (20) Tina Thompson (10) Cynthia Cooper (8) The Summit 6–4
11 July 14 Utah W 79–56 Arcain
Guyton (17)		 Fran Harris (8) Kim Perrot (4) The Summit 7–4
12 July 16 @ Los Angeles L 52–77 Cooper
Thompson (17)		 Janeth Arcain (8) Arcain
Cooper (3)		 Great Western Forum 7–5
13 July 18 @ Sacramento W 82–60 Cynthia Cooper (19) Tammy Jackson (12) Kim Perrot (7) ARCO Arena 8–5
14 July 23 @ Phoenix W 77–69 Cynthia Cooper (32) Janeth Arcain (7) Cynthia Cooper (6) America West Arena 9–5
15 July 25 @ Sacramento W 86–76 Cynthia Cooper (44) Wanda Guyton (7) Janeth Arcain (5) ARCO Arena 10–5
16 July 29 Cleveland L 64–73 Tina Thompson (24) Tina Thompson (9) Cynthia Cooper (5) The Summit 10–6
August : 8–4 (Home: 4–2; Road: 4–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
17 August 1 @ Los Angeles W 81–57 Cynthia Cooper (34) Tina Thompson (9) Cynthia Cooper (5) Great Western Forum 11–6
18 August 2 @ Utah L 63–74 Tina Thompson (20) Tammy Jackson (6) Cooper
Thompson (5)		 Delta Center 11–7
19 August 5 @ Cleveland W 76–66 Cynthia Cooper (30) Janeth Arcain (8) Cynthia Cooper (6) Gund Arena 12–7
20 August 7 Phoenix W 74–70 Cynthia Cooper (34) Tina Thompson (10) Kim Perrot (6) The Summit 13–7
21 August 9 Los Angeles W 72–71 (2OT) Kim Perrot (19) Tina Thompson (10) Cynthia Cooper (8) The Summit 14–7
22 August 11 @ Charlotte W 72–62 Cynthia Cooper (39) Tammy Jackson (7) Kim Perrot (7) Charlotte Coliseum 15–7
23 August 12 Utah W 76–56 Cynthia Cooper (21) Guyton
Thompson (7)		 Kim Perrot (5) The Summit 16–7
24 August 16 @ Charlotte L 71–80 Sheryl Swoopes (20) Tina Thompson (6) Kim Perrot (7) Charlotte Coliseum 16–8
25 August 17 @ New York W 70–55 Cynthia Cooper (17) Jackson | Thompson (12) Kim Perrot (6) Madison Square Garden 17–8
26 August 19 Charlotte W 77–69 Cynthia Cooper (31) Wanda Guyton (10) Cooper
Thompson (4)		 The Summit 18–8
27 August 21 Cleveland L 75–76 Kim Perrot (18) Wanda Guyton (10) Cynthia Cooper (9) The Summit 18–9
28 August 24 Sacramento L 58–68 Cynthia Cooper (16) Tina Thompson (9) Cynthia Cooper (5) The Summit 18–10
1997 season schedule

Playoffs
1997 playoff game log
Semifinal vs. Charlotte Sting
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 August 28 Charlotte W 54–70 Cynthia Cooper (31) Tina Thompson (12) Cynthia Cooper (5) The Summit 1–0
Championship vs. New York Liberty
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 August 30 New York W 65–51 Cynthia Cooper (25) Tammy Jackson (11) Cynthia Cooper (4) The Summit 1–0
1997 playoff schedule

Season standings
Eastern Conference W L PCT Conf. GB
Houston Comets x1810.6436–6–
New York Liberty x1711.6078–41.0
Charlotte Sting x1513.5365–73.0
Cleveland Rockers o1513.5365–73.0

Statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage  TO  Turnovers per game
 PF  Fouls per game Team leader League leader

Regular Season
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Cynthia Cooper 28 28 35.1 .470 .414 .864 4.0 4.7 2.1 0.2 22.2
Tina Thompson 28 28 31.6 .418 .370 .838 6.6 1.1 0.8 2.2 13.2
Janeth Arcain 28 27 28.0 .440 .273 .894 3.9 1.6 1.5 2.4 10.9
Wanda Guyton 25 25 26.7 .467 N/A .559 5.4 0.5 1.0 1.7 6.1
Kim Perrot 28 24 24.7 .364 .283 .405 2.7 3.1 2.5 2.3 5.8
Tammy Jackson 28 3 19.5 .409 .000 .610 4.1 0.4 1.6 1.8 4.1
Tiffany Woosley 26 4 15.3 .330 .320 .250 1.1 1.1 0.7 1.2 2.9
Fran Harris 25 1 14.8 .346 .333 .710 2.2 1.0 0.7 1.2 4.2
Sheryl Swoopes 9 0 14.3 .472 .250 .714 1.7 0.8 0.8 0.4 7.1
Yolanda Moore 13 0 7.2 .250 N/A .500 1.0 0.1 0.1 0.5 1.2
Catarina Pollini 13 0 7.2 .364 N/A .500 0.9 0.4 0.3 0.7 1.7
Pietra Gay 5 0 2.4 .500 N/A .400 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.8 0.8


‡Waived/Released during the season
†Traded during the season
≠Acquired during the season

  • Janeth Arcain ranked second in the WNBA in Free Throw Pct with .894
  • Cynthia Cooper ranked fifth in the WNBA in assists with 131.
  • Cynthia Cooper ranked sixth in the WNBA in Field Goal Percentage (.470)
  • Cynthia Cooper ranked third in the WNBA in Free Throw Pct with .864
  • Cynthia Cooper ranked first in the WNBA in field goals with 191.
  • Cynthia Cooper ranked first in the WNBA in points with 621.
  • Cynthia Cooper ranked fifth in the WNBA in minutes per game with 35.1
  • Cynthia Cooper ranked fifth in the WNBA in steals with 59.
  • Kim Perrot ranked ninth in the WNBA in assists with 88.
  • Kim Perrot ranked third in the WNBA in steals with 69.
  • Tina Thompson ranked ninth in the WNBA in points with 370 points.-
  • Tina Thompson ranked seventh in the WNBA in total rebounds with 184
  • Tina Thompson ranked ninth in the WNBA in points per game with 13.2
  • Tina Thompson ranked seventh in the WNBA in Free Throw Pct with .838
  • Tina Thompson tied for fifth in the WNBA in blocks with 28.

Awards and honors
  • Cynthia Cooper, WNBA Most Valuable Player Award
  • Cynthia Cooper, WNBA Finals MVP Award
  • Cynthia Cooper, Guard, All-WNBA First Team
  • Cynthia Cooper: Led WNBA, Field Goals 191[2]
  • Cynthia Cooper: Led WNBA, 3-Pt Field Goals, 67[2]
  • Cynthia Cooper: Led WNBA, Free Throws, 172[2]
  • Cynthia Cooper: Led WNBA, Free Throw Attempts, 199[2]
  • Cynthia Cooper: Led WNBA, Points, 621 [2]
  • Cynthia Cooper: Led WNBA, Points per game, 22.2 [2]
  • Cynthia Cooper: Ranked third in the WNBA in minutes played, 982
  • Wanda Guyton: Second in WNBA (tied), Offensive Rebounds, 76 [2]
  • Tina Thompson, Forward, All-WNBA First Team
  • Van Chancellor, Coach of the Year [3]

References
  1. "1997 Houston Comets Transactions". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  2. "1997 WNBA Season Summary".
  3. "Postseason Awards: 1997". WNBA.com. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
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