The

1997 WNBA season The 1997 WNBA Season was the Women's National Basketball Association's first in existence. It started off with 8 franchises: Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets, Los Angeles Sparks, New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento ...

was the first season for the New York Liberty.

Offseason

Initial Player Allocation

WNBA Draft

Regular season

The Liberty's and WNBA's first game was played on June 21, 1997, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Led by head coach Nancy Darsch, the Liberty defeated the Los Angeles Sparks, 67-57. The attendance at the Forum was 14,284. The Liberty began their existence with a three-game road trip, where the Liberty went undefeated. The club came back to New York with a 3-0 record. Their first home game was played in Madison Square Garden. On June 29, 1997, in front of a crowd of 17,780, the Liberty scored their first win at home, defeating Phoenix, 65-57. *Rebecca Lobo ranked fourth in the WNBA with 1.8 blocks per game, fifth in defensive rebounds with 141, seventh with 939 minutes played, and tenth in the WNBA in offensive rebounds with 62.

Season standings

Season Schedule

Player stats

''Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average'' *Kym Hampton ranked tenth in the WNBA in total rebounds with 163 *Kym Hampton ranked tenth in the WNBA in blocks with 19. *Kym Hampton ranked fifth in the WNBA in Field Goal Percentage (.471) *Rebecca Lobo ranked fourth in the WNBA in blocks with 51. *Rebecca Lobo ranked fourth in the WNBA in total rebounds with 203. *Rebecca Lobo ranked eighth in the WNBA in minutes per game with 33.5 minutes per game. *Sophia Witherspoon ranked seventh in the WNBA in points with 407 points. *Sophia Witherspoon ranked ninth in the WNBA in field goals with 140. *Sophia Witherspoon ranked seventh in the WNBA in points per game with 14.5 *Sophia Witherspoon was tied for tenth in the WNBA in steals with 49. *Teresa Weatherspoon ranked tenth in the WNBA in minutes per game with 33.0 minutes.

Awards and honors

*Rebecca Lobo, Forward, All-WNBA Second Team *Teresa Weatherspoon, Guard, All-WNBA Second Team *Teresa Weatherspoon: Led WNBA, Assists, 172 *Teresa Weatherspoon: Led WNBA, Steals, 85 *Teresa Weatherspoon: Led WNBA, Assists per game, 6.1 *Teresa Weatherspoon: Led WNBA, Steals per game, 3.0

References

{{New York Liberty navbox New York Liberty seasons

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was f ...