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WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION<br />
Olympic Tower, 645 Fifth Ave<br />
New York, NY 10022<br />
(212) 688-(<strong>WNBA</strong>) 9622<br />
www.wnba.<strong>com</strong><br />
<strong>WNBA</strong> TEAMS<br />
Eastern Conference Western Conference<br />
Atlanta Dream Los Angeles Sparks<br />
Chicago Sky Minnesota Lynx<br />
Connecticut Sun Phoenix Mercury<br />
Indiana Fever San Antonio Silver Stars<br />
New York Liberty Seattle Storm<br />
Washington Mystics Tulsa Shock<br />
<strong>WNBA</strong> TIMELINE<br />
April 24, 1996<br />
Women’s basketball announces “We Got Next”<br />
as the NBA Board of Governors approves the<br />
concept of a <strong>WNBA</strong>.<br />
August 7, 1996<br />
Val Ackerman is named first president of the<br />
<strong>WNBA</strong>.<br />
October 23, 1996<br />
Houston Comets forward Sheryl Swoopes be<strong>com</strong>es the first player<br />
signed by the <strong>WNBA</strong>.<br />
October 30, 1996<br />
<strong>WNBA</strong> announces eight teams to <strong>com</strong>pete in the inaugural season<br />
– Charlotte, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix,<br />
Sacramento and Utah.<br />
January 22, 1997<br />
The league’s first 16 players are allocated to teams, an elite group<br />
<strong>com</strong>prised of Olympians and collegiate stars.<br />
April 19, 1997<br />
<strong>WNBA</strong> and Spalding introduce the league’s official orange-andoatmeal<br />
game ball during <strong>WNBA</strong> Pre-Draft Camp at Disney’s Wide<br />
World of Sports <strong>com</strong>plex in Orlando.<br />
April 28, 1997<br />
Tina Thompson is the first No. 1 draft pick, selected by the<br />
Houston Comets in the inaugural <strong>WNBA</strong> Draft.<br />
June 21, 1997<br />
The New York Liberty and the Los Angeles Sparks tip-off the first<br />
<strong>WNBA</strong> game at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles. Sparks<br />
guard Penny Toler scores the league’s first basket at 19:01. New<br />
York wins 67-57.<br />
June 23, 1997<br />
Utah Starzz be<strong>com</strong>es first team to pass the 100-point mark in a<br />
102-89 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks.<br />
July 2, 1997<br />
New York Liberty center Rebecca Lobo wins her 100th<br />
consecutive personal victory when the Liberty defeat the Houston<br />
Comets 70-67. Winning streak <strong>com</strong>prises Lobo’s 35-0 senior<br />
season at the University of Connecticut, 60-0 as member of U.S.<br />
Olympic Team and 5-0 as a member of the Liberty. The streak<br />
ends at 102.<br />
<strong>2012</strong> INDIANA FEVER MEDIA GUIDE<br />
<strong>WNBA</strong> HISTORY<br />
182 • FeverBasketball.<strong>com</strong><br />
August 30, 1997<br />
The Houston Comets be<strong>com</strong>e the first <strong>WNBA</strong> Champions,<br />
employing the unstoppable Cynthia Cooper and a suffocating<br />
defense for a 65-51 victory over the New York Liberty at The<br />
Summit.<br />
October 1, 1997<br />
The <strong>WNBA</strong> announces that franchises in Detroit and Washington<br />
will join the fold as expansion teams for the 1998 season.<br />
April 22, 1998<br />
The league announces the addition of expansion teams in Orlando<br />
and Minnesota for the 1999 season, bringing the total number of<br />
teams to 12.<br />
June 19, 1998<br />
Los Angeles Sparks center Lisa Leslie sets a <strong>WNBA</strong> record by<br />
pulling down 21 rebounds in the Sparks’ victory over the New York<br />
Liberty.<br />
June 21, 1998<br />
Lisa Leslie notches her seventh-straight double-double, setting a<br />
<strong>WNBA</strong> record.<br />
July 18, 1998<br />
Houston’s Cynthia Cooper be<strong>com</strong>es the first player to reach 1,000<br />
points during Comets’ 75-44 rout of the Sacramento Monarchs.<br />
July 29, 1998<br />
Sacramento Monarchs guard Ticha Penicheiro dishes out 16<br />
assists in a 75-67 loss vs. the Cleveland Rockers to set a <strong>WNBA</strong><br />
record.<br />
August 29, 1998<br />
In Game 2 of the <strong>WNBA</strong> Finals, the Houston Comets, trailing the<br />
Phoenix Mercury 1-0 in the best-of-three series, erases a 12-point<br />
deficit in the final 7:24 to force overtime. Houston wins the series<br />
and claims its second of four titles.<br />
April 29, 1999<br />
The <strong>WNBA</strong> and WNBPA reaches final accord as the league’s first<br />
Collective Bargaining Agreement is signed.<br />
June 7, 1999<br />
<strong>WNBA</strong> announces the addition of four expansion teams for the<br />
2000 season – Indiana, Miami, Portland and Seattle. The <strong>WNBA</strong><br />
family now includes 16 teams.<br />
June 29, 1999<br />
The Sacramento Monarchs and the Minnesota Lynx <strong>com</strong>bine for a<br />
<strong>WNBA</strong>-record 21 three-pointers (10 by Sacramento, 11 by<br />
Minnesota) in the Monarchs’ 86-72 victory over the Lynx.<br />
July 14, 1999<br />
Whitney Houston sings the National Anthem in front of an<br />
electrified crowd on hand at Madison Square Garden to witness<br />
the Inaugural <strong>WNBA</strong> All-Star Game. The West defeats the East<br />
79-61 and Lisa Leslie is named MVP.<br />
July 27, 1999<br />
Sheryl Swoopes records the <strong>WNBA</strong>’s first triple-double with 15<br />
points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in an 85-46 win over Detroit at<br />
the Compaq Center.<br />
Indiana was awarded its franchise alongside Miami, Portland and Seattle, on June 7, 1999.
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