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WNBA team season
The 1997 WNBA season was the first season for the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks finished in second place in the Western Division with a record of 14 wins and 14 losses.
Offseason [ edit ]
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(July 2010 )
Initial Player Allocation [ edit ]
[1]
WNBA draft [ edit ]
[2]
Regular season [ edit ]
The Sparks and WNBA's first game was played on June 21, 1997, in Los Angeles . The Sparks lost to the New York Liberty, 67–57. The attendance at the Forum was 14,284.[3]
Season standings [ edit ]
Season Schedule [ edit ]
1997 Game Log
Game
Date
Opponent
Score
High points
High rebounds
High assists
Location
Record
1
June 21
New York
L 57-67
Leslie (16)
Leslie (14)
Wideman (6)
Great Western Forum
0-1
2
June 23
@ Utah
L 89-102
Leslie (22)
Leslie (10)
Wideman (7)
Delta Center
0-2
3
June 25
Charlotte
W 74-54
Leslie (19)
Leslie, Toler (5)
Toler (7)
Great Western Forum
1-2
4
June 27
Sacramento
W 102-92
Haixia (28)
Haixia (10)
Toler, Wideman (7)
Great Western Forum
2-2
5
June 30
@ Houston
L 66-71 (OT)
Leslie (21)
Leslie (16)
Toler (5)
The Summit
2-3
Game
Date
Opponent
Score
High points
High rebounds
High assists
Location
Record
6
July 3
@ Cleveland
W 74-62
Leslie (19)
Leslie (7)
Wideman (6)
Gund Arena
3-3
7
July 5
@ Charlotte
L 66-78
Leslie (16)
Leslie, Toler (7)
Wideman (6)
Charlotte Coliseum
3-4
8
July 7
Cleveland
L 70-81
Leslie (22)
Leslie (9)
Wideman (8)
Great Western Forum
3-5
9
July 11
Utah
W 75-68
Burgess (20)
Burge , Burgess (9)
Leslie, Toler (6)
Great Western Forum
4-5
10
July 13
Phoenix
L 56-57
Burgess (12)
Burge (11)
Burge, Toler, Dixon , Charles , Colleton (2)
Great Western Forum
4-6
11
July 15
@ Sacramento
L 73-78
Leslie (17)
Burgess, Leslie (5)
Toler (10)
Arco Arena
4-7
12
July 16
Houston
W 77-52
Haixia (15)
Leslie (10)
Leslie (5)
Great Western Forum
5-7
13
July 19
@ New York
L 57-69
Toler (14)
Leslie (7)
Wideman (4)
Madison Square Garden
5-8
14
July 21
@ Charlotte
L 64-75
Leslie (18)
Toler (8)
Leslie, Toler (4)
Charlotte Coliseum
5-9
15
July 23
Cleveland
L 85-89
Leslie (28)
Leslie (13)
Colleton (5)
Great Western Forum
5-10
16
July 25
@ Phoenix
W 86-83 (OT)
Leslie (17)
Leslie (8)
Toler, Wideman (4)
America West Arena
6-10
17
July 27
@ Sacramento
W 84-62
Dixon (20)
Leslie (9)
Toler (9)
Arco Arena
7-10
18
July 30
Utah
W 91-69
Leslie (23)
Leslie (11)
Leslie (7)
Great Western Forum
8-10
Game
Date
Opponent
Score
High points
High rebounds
High assists
Location
Record
19
August 1
Houston
L 57-81
Toler (17)
Leslie (6)
Toler (3)
Great Western Forum
8-11
20
August 3
Charlotte
L 70-77
Toler (19)
Leslie (10)
Toler (7)
Great Western Forum
8-12
21
August 5
@ New York
W 67-50
Toler, Dixon (16)
Leslie (14)
Toler (3)
Madison Square Garden
9-12
22
August 7
@ Cleveland
W 87-84 (2OT)
Dixon (23)
Leslie (14)
Leslie (5)
Gund Arena
10-12
23
August 9
@ Houston
L 71-72
Dixon (21)
Haixia (7)
Toler (4)
The Summit
10-13
24
August 16
@ Utah
W 74-64
Leslie (23)
Leslie (12)
Toler (8)
Delta Center
11-13
25
August 18
Phoenix
W 75-66
Leslie (26)
Leslie (15)
Toler (8)
Great Western Forum
12-13
26
August 20
New York
W 78-76
Toler (17)
Haixia (9)
Toler (6)
Great Western Forum
13-13
27
August 22
Sacramento
W 88-77
Haixia (21)
Leslie (12)
Toler (8)
Great Western Forum
14-13
28
August 24
@ Phoenix
L 68-73 (OT)
Dixon (25)
Leslie (14)
Toler (4)
America West Arena
14-14
Player stats [ edit ]
Player
Games Played
Minutes
Field Goals
Rebounds
Assists
Steals
Blocks
Points
Lisa Leslie
28
902
160
266
74
39
59
445
Penny Toler
28
907
144
94
143
36
3
368
Tamecka Dixon
27
715
115
81
55
49
5
320
Haixia Zheng
28
557
110
123
17
11
20
259
Linda Burgess
28
492
73
117
9
20
13
183
Katrina Colleton
28
613
55
60
45
35
9
136
Mwadi Mabika
21
325
53
54
22
23
6
126
Heidi Burge
22
282
32
69
15
12
12
87
Jamila Wideman
28
633
25
57
103
24
1
84
Daedra Charles
28
282
27
48
12
10
10
64
Travesa Gant
2
13
0
3
0
0
0
0
Kim Gessig
1
4
0
1
0
0
0
[4]
Tamecka Dixon was tied for tenth in the WNBA in steals with 49.
Tamecka Dixon ranked tenth in the WNBA in Field Goal Percentage (.456)
Lisa Leslie ranked third in the WNBA in points with 445 points.
Lisa Leslie ranked third in the WNBA in points per game with 15.9
Lisa Leslie ranked fifth in the WNBA in field goals with 160.
Lisa Leslie ranked first in the WNBA in total rebounds with 266.
Lisa Leslie ranked second in the WNBA in blocks with 59.
Penny Toler ranked tenth in the WNBA in points with 368 points.
Penny Toler ranked eighth in the WNBA in field goals with 144.
Penny Toler ranked tenth in the WNBA in points per game with 13.1[5]
Penny Toler ranked sixth in the WNBA in Free Throw Pct with .839
Penny Toler ranked second in the WNBA in assists with 143.
Jamila Wideman ranked seventh in the WNBA in assists with 103.
Haixia Zheng ranked ninth in the WNBA in blocks with 20.
Awards and honors [ edit ]
Lisa Leslie, Center, All WNBA First Team [6]
Lisa Leslie: Led WNBA, Defensive Rebounds, 203
Lisa Leslie: Led WNBA, Total Rebounds, 266
Lisa Leslie: Led WNBA, Rebounds per game, 9.5
Lisa Leslie ranked second in the WNBA with 2.1 blocks per game.
Lisa Leslie ranked third in the WNBA with 113 Free Throws.
Haixia Zheng , WNBA Peak Performer
Haixia Zheng , Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award
Haixia Zheng: Led WNBA, Field Goal Percentage, .618
[5]
References [ edit ]
Sparks on Basketball Reference
Franchise Arenas Head coaches Administration All-Stars Seasons Playoff appearances Conference Championships WNBA Championships Rivals Media