The 1998 WNBA Championship was the championship

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

of the 1998 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The

Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...

, top-seeded team of the league, defeated the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league ...

, third-seeded team of the league, two games to one in a best-of-three series. This was Houston's second straight title. The Comets made their second appearance in the Finals in two years. The Mercury appeared in the Finals for the first time in franchise history. Going into the series, the Comets had won the only championship, being it only the second season of the league's existence. The Comets' 27–3 record gave them

home court advantage In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to gai ...

over Phoenix (19–11). The Comets lost game 1 in Phoenix, but won games 2 and 3 to take the series.

Road to the finals

Regular season series

The

won 2 of the 3 games in the regular season series:

Game summaries

All times listed below are

Eastern Daylight Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

Game 1

Jennifer Gillom Jennifer "Grandmama" Gillom (born June 13, 1964) is an American former Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) basketball player who played for the Phoenix Mercury from 1997 to 2002, before finishing her playing career with the Los Angeles ...

's basket in the lane with 8.9 seconds left gave the

a 54–51 victory over the

in Game 1 of the

WNBA Finals The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the officia ...

. Gillom, who helped set up her go-ahead shot by blocking a shot by Houston's

Kim Perrot Kim Perrot (January 18, 1967 – August 19, 1999) was an American basketball player. She played in the WNBA for the Houston Comets. Biography Perrot attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayet ...

on the previous possession, finished with 15 points on just 5-of-20 shooting. She also grabbed 10 rebounds. The Mercury, who finished eight games behind the Comets in the Western Conference, can win the title with a victory at Houston on Saturday. Phoenix handed Houston its fourth loss all season (another also from Phoenix in the regular season). League

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

Cynthia Cooper was a one-woman show for the Comets, finishing with 29 points. The rest of the team—which includes first-team All-WNBA choices

Sheryl Swoopes Sheryl Denise Swoopes (born March 25, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player. She was the first player to be signed in the WNBA, is a three-time WNBA MVP, and was named one of the league's Top 15 Players of All Time at the 20 ...

and

Tina Thompson Tina Marie Thompson (born February 10, 1975) is an American former WNBA professional basketball player who served as the head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team from 2018-2022. Thompson was inducted into both the Women's Bas ...

—managed to hit just 10-of-41 shots.

Game 2

Cynthia Cooper scored 19 of her 27 points after halftime as the defending champion

forced a decisive third game in the

with a 74-69 overtime victory over the

added 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Comets, who host Game 3. Houston, which won 27 of 30 regular-season games, lost Game 1 at Phoenix and trailed 62-50 with 7:24 to play before staging a furious rally to save its season.

Michele Timms Michele Margaret Timms (born 28 June 1965) is an Australian basketball coach and retired professional basketball player who played for the Phoenix Mercury in the Women's National Basketball Association(WNBA). Many people consider the Melbourne ...

scored 21 points before fouling out in the final minute and reserve

Kristi Harrower Kristi Harrower (born 4 March 1975) is an Australian professional basketball player, who three times (2000, 2004 and 2008) won the silver medal with the Australian Women's Team at the Summer Olympics, and also the bronze in 2012. She played in ...

added a career-high 12 for Phoenix, which seemingly had taken control of the game with a 12–2 run midway through the second half.

, who averaged a team-high 20.8 points per game for the Mercury, scored just eight on 3-of-15 shooting. Phoenix, which led almost the entire second half, held a 50–48 edge with 11:43 to go after Cooper sank a foul shot following a technical foul on Mercury coach Cheryl Miller, which seemed to light a spark under the Mercury. Houston sensed the urgency and clawed back into the game. Yolanda Moore had a basket off an offensive rebound before Cooper added a free throw and eight-foot bank shot to make it 62–55 with 5:02 left. Houston shot 43 percent (28-of-65) from the field and Thompson finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Cooper was 11-of-14 from the line. The Mercury shot just 38 percent (24-of-63) but did hit 7-of-15 three-point shots.

Game 3

The

claimed their second straight WNBA championship, pulling away from the pesky

late in the second half and claiming an 80–71 victory in decisive Game 3. After cruising through the regular season with a 27–3 record, the Comets were pushed to the limit by the Mercury after finishing eight games ahead of them in the Western Conference. In the end, however, Houston's trio of stars ensured the repeat. League

Cynthia Cooper scored 23 points and

added 18.

, nearly invisible for the first 30 minutes, had 11 points in the final 9:13 and finished with 16. Michelle Griffiths scored a career-high 24 points and

had her best game of the series, netting 20. But Phoenix got nothing from

, who finished with only two points—19 fewer than she had in Game 2. The Comets have now won the only two WNBA championships.

Awards

*1998 WNBA Champion:

* Finals MVP: Cynthia Cooper

Rosters

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References

{{WNBA on ESPN

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Houston Comets Phoenix Mercury 1998 in sports in Texas 1998 in sports in Arizona Women's National Basketball Association Finals August 1998 sports events in the United States September 1998 sports events in the United States 1998 in Houston 1990s in Phoenix, Arizona Sports competitions in Houston Sports competitions in Phoenix, Arizona Women's sports in Arizona