1997 Utah Starzz season

1997 Utah Starzz season

Head Coach

Denise Taylor

Arena

Attendance

7,611 per game

Results
Record	7–21 (.250)
Place	4th (Western)
Playoff Finish	Did not qualify



Utah Starzz seasons
< 1996	1998 >

The 1997 WNBA season was the inaugural season for the Utah Starzz. The Starzz were partially named after the old ABA team, the Utah Stars, but with the zz at the end like the Utah Jazz). The franchise held the distinction of having the worst record in the WNBA in 1997.

Offseason

Initial Player Allocation

Pick	Player	Nationality	WNBA Team	College/HS/Club Team
15	Elena Baranova (C/F)	Russia	Utah Starzz	Russia
16	Lady Hardmon (G)	United States	Utah Starzz	Georgia

^[1]

WNBA Draft

Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College/HS/Club Team
5	Tammi Reiss	(G)	United States	Virginia

Regular season

Season standings

Western Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
Phoenix Mercury ^x	16	12	.571	9–3	–
Los Angeles Sparks ^o	14	14	.500	8–4	2.0
Sacramento Monarchs ^o	10	18	.357	4–8	6.0
Utah Starzz ^o	7	21	.250	3–9	9.0

Season schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Record
June 21	Sacramento	60-70	Loss	0-1
June 23	Los Angeles	102-89	Win	1-1
June 26	@ Cleveland	63-74	Loss	1-2
June 28	Houston	58-76	Loss	1-3
July 2	@ Sacramento	73-68 (OT)	Win	2-3
July 3	Phoenix	55-77	Loss	2-4
July 5	New York	53-66	Loss	2-5
July 7	Sacramento	69-79	Loss	2-6
July 11	@ Los Angeles	68-75	Loss	2-7
July 12	Phoenix	52-51	Win	3-7
July 14	@ Houston	56-79	Loss	3-8
July 16	@ Charlotte	63-75	Loss	3-9
July 17	@ New York	54-80	Loss	3-10
July 19	@ Cleveland	68-95	Loss	3-11
July 22	@ New York	78-71	Win	4-11
July 26	Cleveland	66-77	Loss	4-12
July 30	@ Los Angeles	69-91	Loss	4-13
August 2	Houston	74-63	Win	5-13
August 4	Charlotte	73-70	Win	6-13
August 6	@ Phoenix	46-78	Loss	6-14
August 8	@ Sacramento	78-93	Loss	6-15
August 11	Cleveland	59-74	Loss	6-16
August 12	@ Houston	56-76	Loss	6-17
August 16	Los Angeles	64-74	Loss	6-18
August 17	@ Phoenix	63-71 (OT)	Loss	6-19
August 19	New York	81-75	Win	7-19
August 21	Charlotte	56-66	Loss	7-20
August 24	@ Charlotte	52-70	Loss	7-21

Player stats

Elena Baranova ranked third in the WNBA in total rebounds with 207
Dena Head ranked fifth in the WNBA in Free Throw Pct with .844
Wendy Palmer ranked second in the WNBA in total rebounds with 225.
Wendy Palmer ranked sixth in the WNBA in field goals with 157.
Wendy Palmer ranked fourth in the WNBA in points with 443 points.
Wendy Palmer ranked ninth in the WNBA in minutes per game with 33.4
Wendy Palmer ranked fourth in the WNBA in points per game with 15.8
Tammi Reiss ranked tenth in the WNBA in assists with 87.^[2]

Awards and honors

Elena Baranova: Led WNBA, Blocks, 63
Elena Baranova: Led WNBA, Blocks per game, 2.2
Elena Baranova, Ranked second in the WNBA (tied), Defensive Rebounds, 151
Wanda Guyton: Ranked second in WNBA (tied), Offensive Rebounds, 76
Wendy Palmer: Led WNBA, Field Goal Attempts, 420
Wendy Palmer: Ranked second in the WNBA, Free Throws, 117

^[2]

References

External links

Starzz on Basketball Reference

1997 WNBA season by team

Draft Championship Playoffs

Eastern	Charlotte Sting Cleveland Rockers Houston Comets New York Liberty

Western	Los Angeles Sparks Phoenix Mercury Sacramento Monarchs Utah Starzz

← 1996 . WNBA season 1998 →

San Antonio Stars

Formerly the Utah Starzz and the San Antonio Silver Stars
Founded in 1997
Based in San Antonio, Texas

The Franchise

Arenas

Head Coaches

Denise Taylor
Frank Layden
Fred Williams
Candi Harvey
Shell Dailey
Dee Brown
Sandy Brondello
Dan Hughes

Administration

Owners: Larry H. Miller; Peter Holt
General Managers: Jay Francis; Dan Hughes

All-Stars

Seasons

Playoff appearances

2001
2002
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2014

Conference titles

2008

WNBA titles

None

Rivals

Media

TV:	TV: FS Southwest (FS-SW)

Radio:	KTKR Ticket 760 AM

Announcers	Tai Dillard Andrew Monaco Brenda VanLengen