The Sacramento Monarchs were a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA) from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009. They played their home games at ARCO Arena. The Monarchs were one of the WNBA's eight original franchises and were noted early on for standout players

Ticha Penicheiro Patrícia Nunes "Ticha" Penicheiro, OIH (September 18, 1974) is a Portuguese sports agent and former basketball player. She played for the Sacramento Monarchs in the WNBA for most of her professional career. She was a four-time WNBA All-Star a ...

Ruthie Bolton Alice Ruth Bolton (born May 25, 1967), known as Ruthie Bolton, is an American former professional women's basketball player. Born in Lucedale, Mississippi, she played at the collegiate, Olympic and professional levels of women's basketball. Bolt ...

and

Yolanda Griffith Yolanda Evette Griffith (born March 1, 1970) is an American professional basketball hall of fame player who played in both the ABL and WNBA. A former WNBA MVP, she is considered one of the greatest rebounders and defensive players in the histor ...

. They were the sister franchise of the Sacramento Kings National Basketball Association (NBA) team. They were one of the more successful WNBA franchises on the court, though they often trailed behind perennial Western Conference champions 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 ...

and the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was fou ...

. However, in 2005, the team brought Sacramento its first championship, winning the WNBA Finals for the only time.

Franchise history

Origins (1997–2003)

The Monarchs made an impact in the WNBA almost immediately. With the hiring of

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

national team player

, popular player

and prolific scorer

, all of whom have been WNBA All-Stars, the Monarchs have been able to make the playoffs almost every year so far, but were normally eliminated before reaching the WNBA Finals.

Gaining control (2004–2006)

After losing to the Seattle Storm in the 2004 WNBA Western Conference Championship, the Monarchs made major roster moves to improve the team – obtaining younger players and emphasizing Head Coach John Whisenant's defense-oriented system. Bolton, one of the team's original players, became a free agent and the Monarchs made the difficult decision not to keep her on the active playing roster, though they did offer her a position in their front office.

Edna Campbell Edna Campbell (born November 26, 1968) is a retired women's basketball player who played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The 5 ft 8 in guard played with the Sacramento Monarchs as well as three other teams, but i ...

, a

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

survivor and another fan favorite, was not signed by the Monarchs and later signed with the

San Antonio Silver Stars The San Antonio Stars were a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the Utah Starzz before the ...

. On March 3, 2005, the Monarchs traded

Tangela Smith Tangela Nicole Smith (born April 1, 1977) is a retired American basketball player in the WNBA. Smith played the bulk of her career for the Sacramento Monarchs and the Phoenix Mercury where she won two WNBA Championships. She's currently an assis ...

and a 2006 second round

draft pick A draft is a process used in some countries (especially in North America) and sports (especially in closed leagues) to allocate certain players to teams. In a draft, teams take turns selecting from a pool of eligible players. When a team selec ...

to the

Charlotte Sting The Charlotte Sting were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the league's eight original teams. The team folded on January 3, 2007. The Sting was originally the sister organization of ...

in exchange for former Stanford University standout

Nicole Powell Nicole Kristen Powell (born June 22, 1982) is an American basketball coach who is currently the head women's basketball coach at University of California, Riverside. As a player, she had a standout collegiate career at Stanford University, Powell ...

Olympia Scott-Richardson Olympia Scott, formerly known under her married name of Olympia Scott-Richardson, is an American former professional basketball player in the WNBA, and a former college coach. She is also co-founder of an online parenting education company ...

, and

Erin Buescher Erin Buescher Perperoglou (born June 5, 1979) is a former American professional basketball player. She played most recently as a forward for the San Antonio Silver Stars of the WNBA. In her WNBA career, Buescher Perperoglou played more than 2,5 ...

. After signing two

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

players,

Miao Lijie Miao Lijie (苗立杰, born June 3, 1981 in Harbin, Heilongjiang) is a female Chinese basketball player who was part of the team that won the gold medal at the 2001 Asian Championship. In 2005, she joined the Sacramento Monarchs of WNBA but le ...

and

Sui Feifei Sui Feifei (; born January 29, 1979, in Qingdao, Shandong) is a Chinese basketball player who was signed with the Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA. She was born and raised in Qingdao, Shandong in the People's Republic of China China, o ...

, the Monarchs traded

Chantelle Anderson Chantelle Denise Anderson ( ; born January 22, 1981) is a retired Lebanese-American collegiate and professional basketball player who has played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and overseas. Personal Chantelle Anderson was b ...

to the

for a 2006 draft pick. During the 2005 WNBA Draft, the Monarchs drafted point guard

Kristin Haynie Kristin Lynne Haynie (born June 17, 1983) is an American former basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and current assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx. Early life Haynie was raised in Mason, Michigan. In high s ...

from Michigan State University and Chelsea Newton from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

. The Monarchs did sign

as a free agent for the purpose of her trying to win a spot on team's roster during its pre-season training camp, but eventually waived her. Bolton later joined the Monarchs to work in their promotions and public relations department. The offseason moves immediately paid off for the Monarchs as the team finished with a franchise-best 25–9 win–loss record. Whisenant was later named the WNBA Coach of the Year, and Powell received the

WNBA Most Improved Player Award The Women's National Basketball Association's Most Improved Player Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the 2000 WNBA season, to the most improved player of the regular season. The winner is selected b ...

. After previous seasons of being eliminated from the WNBA Playoffs by either the

or the

, the Monarchs finally defeated both, sweeping both teams en route to their first appearance in the WNBA Finals. The Monarchs won their first ever WNBA Finals by defeating the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut that competes in the Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was established as the Orlando Miracle in ...

, three games to one in a

best-of-five playoff There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly ...

series, which brought the city of Sacramento its second major championship in a professional sport. After winning the championship, the Monarchs became the first women's professional team to appear on a Wheaties box. The Monarchs remained strong in 2006, finishing second place in the West. The Monarchs would catch fire in the playoffs, once again sweeping both Houston and then top seeded LA to reach the Finals for the second straight season. But in the Finals, they were defeated by the Detroit Shock 3 games to 2, in the first WNBA Finals to go 5 games.

Decline (2007–2009)

In 2007, the Monarchs finished strongly again, but blew a chance to get the #2 seed at the end of the season. They were matched up against the

. After defeating the Silver Stars in game 1 at home, the Monarchs would lose games 2 & 3 (and the series) in San Antonio, ending their two-year run as Western Conference champions. In 2008 the Monarchs were markedly less strong, but hung around the Western Playoff picture all season and finished with the #4 seed. Facing the Silver Stars again in the first round, the Monarchs were hoping for some payback for 2007. The series did not start well for the Monarchs, as they dropped Game 1 at home 85-78. Now the series shifted to San Antonio, and it seemed the series would come to a quick end. But the Monarchs would not back down, blowing out the Silver Stars in Game 2 84-67, forcing the critical Game 3. In Game 3, the Stars came out strong and at one point had a 14-point lead. But the Monarchs put together a furious rally, scoring seven points in the final 90 seconds of play to even the game and force it to overtime. But unfortunately for the Monarchs, the Silver Stars came out strong in the extra period and won the game, 86-81, ending the Monarchs' season. In 2009, the Monarchs had one of their worst seasons in franchise history. It also led to the firing of head coach

Jenny Boucek Jennifer Dawn Boucek (born December 20, 1973) is an assistant basketball coach for the Indiana Pacers, a former basketball player, and former head coach of the Seattle Storm. She was hired by the Storm on January 20, 2015, but terminated on August ...

during the season, after which she was replaced by

John Whisenant John Harold Whisenant Jr. (born June 18, 1945) is an American former head coach for the Sacramento Monarchs and New York Liberty in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Coaching career After starting at Connors Junior College in W ...

, the coach that led the Monarchs to their first championship in 2005. They finished 12-22, last in the conference and the league. They also missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2002 season and tied the record for the most losses with 22, the same number of losses they made 11 years ago.

Dissolution

It was revealed on November 20, 2009 that the

Maloof family The Maloof family is a prominent American family based in Las Vegas, Nevada, who are owners of numerous business properties in the Western United States. The original spelling of the family name is Maalouf. The family is of Lebanese descent via ...

would no longer operate the Monarchs. The league attempted to re-locate the Monarchs to the San Francisco Bay area, but on December 8, 2009 it was announced that new ownership could not be found and a

dispersal draft A dispersal draft is a process in professional sports for assigning players to a new team when their current team ceases to exist or is merged with another team. Like most other sports drafts, most dispersal drafts are conducted in North America. ...

would be held on December 14, 2009. As of November 2019, the Monarchs were the last WNBA team to cease operations.

Possibility of rebirth

In October of 2009, there were plans to relocate the Monarchs to Oakland but they never came to fruition. The ownership group of the Sacramento Kings, led by Vivek Ranadivé, have indicated a desire to bring back the Monarchs as shared tenants for the new

Golden 1 Center Golden 1 Center is an indoor arena, located in downtown Sacramento, California, United States. It sits partially on the site of the former Downtown Plaza shopping center. The publicly owned arena is part of a business and entertainment district ...

an intention shared with former Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson,Sacramento mayor announces city's group to buy Kings
/ref> himself a former professional basketball player in the NBA.

Season-by-season records

Players and coaches

Final roster

Head coaches

* Mary Murphy (1997) *

Heidi VanDerveer Heidi Elizabeth VanDerveer (born February 11, 1964) is a women's basketball collegiate and professional coach. She is currently the women's basketball head coach at UC San Diego. A native of Chautauqua, New York, VanDerveer was a four-year letter ...

(1997–1998) *

Sonny Allen Sonny Allen (March 8, 1936 – September 11, 2020) was an American college basketball coach. He was the head coach at Old Dominion University from 1965 to 1975; leading the Monarchs to six NCAA College/Division II Tournaments, winning in 1975, fi ...

(1999–2001) * Maura McHugh (2001–2003) *

(2003–2006, 2009) *

(2007–2009)

General managers

* Jerry Reynolds (1997-2003) *

(2003–09)

Hall of Famers

Bridgette Gordon Bridgette C. Gordon (born April 27, 1967) is an American retired female professional basketball player. She was a member of the United States women's national basketball team, that claimed the gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South ...

Retired numbers

¹ ''The Monarchs' first General Manager, has a retired jersey marked "GM", that was hung onto the ARCO Arena's rafters in 2004.''

Notable players

* Cass Bauer-Bilodeau * Cindy Blodgett *

Rebekkah Brunson Rebekkah Brunson (born December 11, 1981) is an American basketball coach, currently an assistant coach with the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Brunson is a former forward for the Lynx and is the only playe ...

Latasha Byears Latasha Nashay Byears (born August 12, 1973) is a former American professional women's basketball player. She played in the WNBA for the Sacramento Monarchs, the Los Angeles Sparks, the Washington Mystics, and for the Houston Comets. Byears ran ...

* Lady Grooms *

Kedra Holland-Corn Kedra Holland-Corn (born November 5, 1974) is an American professional women's basketball player with the Detroit Shock of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). After attending the University of Georgia, she played for the Sacramento ...

Kara Lawson Kara Marie Lawson (born February 14, 1981) is the head coach of the Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team. She is a former American professional women's basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and a basketball ...

* Hamchetou Maiga-Ba *

Pamela McGee Pamela Denise McGee (born December 1, 1962) is an American former professional women's basketball player, 2012 Women's Basketball Hall of Famer, and mother of two professional basketball players. She is the first WNBA mom to have a son and daug ...

Courtney Paris Courtney Paris (born September 21, 1987) is an American basketball coach and former player. She is currently an assistant coach for the Dallas Wings of the WNBA. She last played as a center for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketba ...

* Scholanda Robinson * Laure Savasta *

Kate Starbird Catherine Evelyn Starbird (born July 30, 1975) is an American computer scientist and former professional basketball player. Playing at the guard position, Starbird earned All-American honors as a high school athlete at Lakes High School in Lake ...

Katy Steding Kathryn Suzanne Steding (born December 11, 1967) is a former collegiate and professional basketball player. She is currently an assistant coach for the Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team. College career Steding was born in Portland, Oreg ...

* Chantel Tremitiere *

DeMya Walker DeMya Chakheia Walker (born November 28, 1977) is a professional basketball player from the United States. High school Walker was born and grew up in Mount Holly, New Jersey, where she attended Rancocas Valley Regional High School and she set s ...

* Kara Wolters *

Adrian Williams-Strong Adrian Williams-Strong (born February 15, 1977) is a former American professional women's basketball player who played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Williams attended college at University ...

All-Stars

*1999:

Ruthie Bolton-Holifield Alice Ruth Bolton (born May 25, 1967), known as Ruthie Bolton, is an American former professional women's basketball player. Born in Lucedale, Mississippi, she played at the collegiate, Olympic and professional levels of women's basketball. Bolt ...

*2000:

*2001:

*2002:

*2003:

*2004: None but

on USA Olympic Team *2005:

*2006:

*2007:

*2008: No All-Star Game *2009:

References

External links

Monarchs Fans discussion newsgroup

Monarchs fansite
{{Sacramento Monarchs navbox Defunct Women's National Basketball Association teams Basketball teams established in 1997 Basketball teams disestablished in 2009 Defunct basketball teams in California Basketball teams in Sacramento, California 1997 establishments in California Basketball teams in California 2009 disestablishments in California