The 1999 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 1999 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Houston Comets, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, defeated the New York Liberty, top-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, two games to one in a best-of-three series. This was Houston's third title. The Comets made their third appearance in the Finals in franchise history. The Liberty made their second Finals appearance. Going into the series, no other team except the Houston Comets had ever won a WNBA championship (

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and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

). The Comets had a 26–6 record (.813), good enough to receive home-court advantage over the Liberty (18–14).

Road to the finals

Regular season series

The Comets and the Liberty split 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 p ...

Game 1

Game 2

With Houston leading 67–65 over New York and the Liberty out of timeouts with only 2.4 seconds remaining on the clock after Tina Thompson's jumper, New York would have to go the length of the court if they had any hope of winning. Kym Hampton inbounded the ball to

Teresa Weatherspoon Teresa Gaye Weatherspoon (born December 8, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as assistant coach for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). She played for the New York L ...

who took a couple dribbles and let the ball fly 50 feet away from the basket. To the awe and ire of the Houston fans, the ball smacked off the backboard and banked into the basket and the Liberty won the game 68–67. The lasting image of this moment is Weatherspoon falling over on the ground smiling as her teammates mob her from the bench.

Game 3

Awards

*1999 WNBA Champion: Houston Comets * Finals MVP: Cynthia Cooper

Rosters

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External links

{{WNBA on ESPN

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Houston Comets New York Liberty WNBA Championship WNBA Championship Women's National Basketball Association Finals WNBA Championship WNBA Championship Sports competitions in Houston Sports competitions in New York City 1990s in Manhattan Madison Square Garden