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The Columbus Quest was a professional
women's basketball franchise located in
Columbus, Ohio in the now-defunct
American Basketball League (ABL). They were one of the league's original eight teams that started play in 1996. In the league's brief history, the Quest was its most successful franchise, winning both championships the league awarded.
The Quest's head coach was
Brian Agler
Brian Agler (born August 2, 1958) is an American women's professional basketball coach. He previously coached the Dallas Wings from 2019 to 2020. He also had previously been head coach of the Seattle Storm and the Los Angeles Sparks, each of whom ...
, who finished with a record of 82–22 during the team's two-plus seasons of existence. After Agler left the Quest midseason to become the head coach of the
WNBA's
Minnesota Lynx, the team was coached by player-coach
Tonya Edwards[The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...]
- PLUS: PRO BASKETBALL -- A.B.L.; Edwards Wins Debut As a Player-Coach">
. Many of the Quest's players later played for the Lynx, including Edwards,
Katie Smith
Katie Smith (born June 4, 1974) is lead assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is the former head coach of the New York Liberty.
A retired professional basketball player, Smith's primary ...
,
Andrea Lloyd-Curry, Angie Potthoff and
Shanele Stires
Shanele Marie Stires (born ) is an American retired professional women's basketball player and current college basketball coach.
Career
She is the head coach of the Cal Poly women's basketball team since April 2022.
Stires attended Cloud Count ...
.
The Quest played their home games at the
Greater Columbus Convention Center
The Greater Columbus Convention Center (GCCC) is a convention center located in Downtown Columbus, Ohio, United States, along the east side of North High Street.
The convention center was predominantly designed by Peter Eisenman, constructed ...
in
Battelle Hall. Despite being the league's most successful team, they had the league's lowest average attendance for all three years of the ABL's existence.
Season-By-Season
1996–97
*Finished 31–9, won Eastern Conference by 10 games
*Defeated
San Jose Lasers
The San Jose Lasers were a women's professional basketball team in San Jose, California. It was a member of the American Basketball League. Their home games were primarily held at the San Jose State Event Center with an occasional game being p ...
in Semifinals 2–0 (best of 3)
**Game 1 at San Jose: Columbus 94, San Jose 69
**Game 2 at Columbus: Columbus 81, San Jose 69
*Defeated
Richmond Rage in Championship 3–2 (best of 5)
**Game 1 at Columbus: Columbus 90, Richmond 89
**Game 2 at Columbus: Richmond 75, Columbus 62
**Game 3 at Richmond: Richmond 72, Columbus 67
**Game 4 at Richmond: Columbus 95, Richmond 84
**Game 5 at Columbus: Columbus 77, Richmond 64
*
Nikki McCray named Most Valuable Player
*Brian Agler named Coach of the Year
*
Valerie Still named Playoffs Most Valuable Player
1997–98
*Finished 36–8, won Eastern Conference by 12 games
*Defeated
San Jose Lasers
The San Jose Lasers were a women's professional basketball team in San Jose, California. It was a member of the American Basketball League. Their home games were primarily held at the San Jose State Event Center with an occasional game being p ...
in Semifinals 2–0 (best of 3)
**Game 1 at Columbus: Columbus 94, San Jose 88
**Game 2 at San Jose: Columbus 74, San Jose 62
*Defeated
Long Beach Stingrays
The Long Beach Stingrays was a women's professional basketball team. It existed for only the 1997–98 season, and was a member of the American Basketball League (ABL).
The Stingrays played most of their home games at the Walter Pyramid on the ...
in Championship 3–2 (best of 5)
**Game 1 at Long Beach: Long Beach 65, Columbus 62
**Game 2 at Long Beach: Long Beach 71, Columbus 61
**Game 3 at Columbus: Columbus 70, Long Beach 61
**Game 4 at Columbus: Columbus 68, Long Beach 53
**Game 5 at Columbus: Columbus 86, Long Beach 81
*Valerie Still named Playoffs Most Valuable Player
1998–99
*Finished 11–3, leading Eastern Conference by 2 games
References
{{reflist
American Basketball League (1996–1998) teams
Defunct basketball teams in the United States
Basketball teams established in 1996
Basketball teams in Ohio
Sports clubs disestablished in 1998
Sports teams in Columbus, Ohio
Women's sports in Ohio
ca:American Basketball League III