1998 Phoenix Mercury season
Introduction The 1998 WNBA season was the second season for the Phoenix Mercury. The Mercury reached their first WNBA Finals, but championship hopes were denied when they lost to the Houston Comets in three games.
Offseason Tara Williams was picked up by the Detroit Shock in the 1998 WNBA Expansion Draft.===WNBA draft==='''Round''''''Pick''''''Player''''''Nationality''''''School/Club Team''' 1 8 Maria Stepanova (C)  Russia 2 18 Andrea Kuklova (G/F)  Slovakia 3 28 Brandy Reed (F)  Southern Mississippi 4 38 Karen Wilkins (G/F)  Howard
Regular season ===Season standings======Season schedule==='''Date''''''Opponent''''''Score''''''Result''''''Record''' June 11  @ Sacramento  73-70  Win  1-0 June 14  Los Angeles  70-60  Win  2-0 June 15  Washington  69-54  Win  3-0 June 21  Charlotte  71-72  Loss  3-1 June 24  Houston  69-66  Win  4-1 June 26  Utah  96-63  Win  5-1 June 28  @ Washington  86-69  Win  6-1 June 29  @ New York  68-71  Loss  6-2 July 2  @ Cleveland  76-61  Win  7-2 July 4  @ Charlotte  66-68  Loss  7-3 July 8  @ Detroit  78-76  Win  8-3 July 10  Cleveland  76-60  Win  9-3 July 13  Los Angeles  72-62  Win  10-3 July 15  Detroit  73-60  Win  11-3 July 18  New York  63-69  Loss  11-4 July 20  Sacramento  88-67  Win  12-4 July 21  Houston  62-65  Loss  12-5 July 23  @ Los Angeles  68-70  Loss  12-6 July 27  @ Utah  80-90  Loss  12-7 July 28  @ Houston  62-72  Loss  12-8 July 31  @ Los Angeles  56-71  Loss  12-9 August 4  Washington  88-59  Win  13-9 August 6  @ Houston  64-75  Loss  13-10 August 8  Utah  68-62  Win  14-10 August 10  @ Cleveland  82-80  Win  15-10 August 11  @ New York  78-79  Loss  15-11 August 14  Detroit  84-59  Win  16-11 August 16  @ Sacramento  85-69  Win  17-11 August 17  @ Utah  75-64  Win  18-11 August 19  Sacramento  71-62  Win  19-11
Playoffs  Game  Date  Opponent  Score  Result  Record '''WNBA Semifinals''' 1  August 22  Cleveland  78-68  Win  1-0 2  August 24  @ Cleveland  66-67  Loss  1-1 3  August 25  @ Cleveland  71-60  Win  2-1 '''WNBA Finals''' 1  August 27  Houston  54-51   Win  3-1 2  August 29  @ Houston  69-74 (OT) Loss  3-2 3  September 1  @ Houston  71-80  Loss  3-3
Player stats  Player GP REB AST STL BLK PTS Jennifer Gillom  30  219  42  50  10  624 Bridget Pettis  30  103  62  29  9  338 Michelle Brogan  30  133  41  44  5  275 Michele Timms  30  74  158  38  4  207 Umeki Webb  30  116  92  47  21  161 Marlies Askamp  26  85  12  12  7  139 Brandy Reed  24  78  20  18  7  124 Andrea Kuklova  29  37  31  18  4  97 Toni Foster  16  30  19  14  5  79 Kristi Harrower  30  21  52  15  3  70 Maria Stepanova  20  38  7  3  11  66 Mikiko Hagiwara  10  2  3  0  0  22 Pauline Jordan  6  5  4  0  0  15
References
External links * Mercury on Basketball Reference