# 1998 Cleveland Rockers season

The 1998 WNBA season was the 2nd for the Cleveland Rockers. The Rockers topped the Eastern Conference, but they were unable to reach the WNBA Finals, losing in the WNBA semifinals to the Phoenix Mercury.

## Transactions
### Detroit Shock expansion draft

The following player was selected in the Detroit Shock expansion draft from the Cleveland Rockers:
| Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| Lynette Woodard | United States | Kansas |

### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 6 | Cindy Blodgett | United States | Maine |
| 2 | 16 | Suzie McConnell Serio | United States | Penn State |
| 3 | 26 | Tanja Kostić | Sweden | Oregon State |
| 4 | 36 | Tammye Jenkins | United States | Georgia |

### Transactions

| Date | Transaction | Transaction |
| February 18, 1998 | Lost Lynette Woodard to the Detroit Shock in the WNBA expansion draft |
| April 29, 1998 | Drafted Cindy Blodgett, Suzie McConnell Serio, Tanja Kostić and Tammye Jenkins in the 1998 WNBA Draft |

## Schedule
### Regular season

1998 game log Total: 20–10 (Home: 11–4; Road: 9–6) :
June: 4–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
June 11
New York
W 78–71
Janice Braxton (17)
Janice Braxton (6)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (10)
Gund Arena
1–0
2
June 15
@ Detroit
W 96–85
Janice Braxton (18)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (6)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (8)
The Palace of Auburn Hills
2–0
3
June 18
@ Houston
L 69–87
Janice Braxton (13)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (9)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (7)
Compaq Center
2–1
4
June 20
Detroit
W 68–66
Janice Braxton (17)
Janice Braxton (8)
Fijalkowski McConnell-Serio (5)
Gund Arena
3–1
5
June 22
Utah
W 88–72
Janice Braxton (17)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (8)
Bevilaqua Blodgett (6)
Gund Arena
4–1
6
June 23
@ New York
L 57–59
Rushia Brown (12)
Adrienne Johnson (8)
Tully Bevilaqua (4)
Madison Square Garden
4–2
7
June 27
Detroit
L 73–84
Isabelle Fijalkowski (25)
Janice Braxton (13)
Eva Němcová (5)
Gund Arena
4–3 :
July
: 8–6 (Home: 6–2; Road: 2–4)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
8
July 1
@ Washington
W 92–80
Isabelle Fijalkowski (19)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (8)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (4)
MCI Center
5–3
9
July 2
Phoenix
L 61–76
Isabelle Fijalkowski (16)
Janice Braxton (8)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (12)
Gund Arena
5–4
10
July 6
Houston
L 64–78
Braxton Jones (13)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (9)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (4)
Gund Arena
5–5
11
July 8
Washington
W 77–65
Eva Němcová (15)
Eva Němcová (7)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (6)
Gund Arena
6–5
12
July 10
@ Phoenix
L 60–76
Janice Braxton (13)
Janice Braxton (8)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (5)
America West Arena
6–6
13
July 12
@ Los Angeles
L 66–87
Janice Braxton (13)
Janice Braxton (7)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (10)
Great Western Forum
6–7
14
July 14
@ Sacramento
W 61–58
Eva Němcová (15)
Braxton Fijalkowski (5)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (9)
ARCO Arena
7–7
15
July 16
New York
W 60–51
Isabelle Fijalkowski (15)
Michelle Edwards (7)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (7)
Gund Arena
8–7
16
July 18
@ Detroit
L 57–72
Michelle Edwards (13)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (7)
Braxton Fijalkowski Jones Němcová McConnell-Serio (1)
The Palace of Auburn Hills
8–8
17
July 19
Charlotte
W 85–69
Merlakia Jones (19)
Janice Braxton (9)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (8)
Gund Arena
9–8
18
July 25
Utah
W 69–59
Isabelle Fijalkowski (24)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (8)
Edwards McConnell-Serio (6)
Gund Arena
10–8
19
July 27
Los Angeles
W 83–67
Eva Němcová (15)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (9)
Eva Němcová (9)
Gund Arena
11–8
20
July 29
Sacramento
W 75–67
Isabelle Fijalkowski (17)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (8)
Michelle Edwards (7)
Gund Arena
12–8
21
July 30
@ Charlotte
L 64–79
Michelle Edwards (24)
Braxton Fijalkowski (7)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (5)
Charlotte Coliseum
12–9 :
August
: 8–1 (Home: 2–1; Road: 6–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
22
August 1
@ Houston
W 74–71 (OT)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (19)
Merlakia Jones (10)
Michelle Edwards (7)
Compaq Center
13–9
23
August 4
@ Sacramento
W 72–60
Isabelle Fijalkowski (17)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (11)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (7)
ARCO Arena
14–9
24
August 6
@ Utah
W 79–69
Isabelle Fijalkowski (22)
Braxton Fijalkowski (7)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (5)
Delta Center
15–9
25
August 8
Charlotte
W 65–58
Eva Němcová (18)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (6)
Braxton McConnell-Serio (4)
Gund Arena
16–9
26
August 10
Phoenix
L 80–82 (2OT)
Eva Němcová (19)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (12)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (8)
Gund Arena
16–10
27
August 12
@ Washington
W 75–55
Braxton Fijalkowski (13)
Janice Braxton (6)
McConnell-Serio Němcová (3)
MCI Center
17–10
28
August 14
@ Charlotte
W 85–72
Suzie McConnell-Serio (18)
Brown Fijalkowski Němcová (5)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (7)
Charlotte Coliseum
18–10
29
August 15
Washington
W 85–72
Suzie McConnell-Serio (19)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (8)
McConnell-Serio Němcová (7)
Gund Arena
19–10
30
August 17
@ New York
W 70–64
Isabelle Fijalkowski (18)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (9)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (6)
Madison Square Garden
20–10 :
1998 season schedule :

### Playoffs

1998 playoff game log :
Semifinal vs. Phoenix Mercury Lost Series: 1–2
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
August 22
@ Phoenix
L 68–78
Isabelle Fijalkowski (20)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (9)
Edwards Němcová (4)
America West Arena
0–1
2
August 24
Phoenix
W 67–66
Michelle Edwards (18)
Janice Braxton (10)
Suzie McConnell-Serio (9)
Gund Arena
1–1
3
August 25
Phoenix
L 60–71
Isabelle Fijalkowski (17)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (11)
Eva Němcová (5)
Gund Arena
1–2 :
1998 playoff schedule :

### Season standings

| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | Conf. | GB |
| Cleveland Rockers $^x$ | 20 | 10 | .667 | 12–4 | – |
| Charlotte Sting $^x$ | 18 | 12 | .600 | 11–5 | 2.0 |
| New York Liberty $^o$ | 18 | 12 | .600 | 8–8 | 2.0 |
| Detroit Shock $^o$ | 17 | 13 | .567 | 8–8 | 3.0 |
| Washington Mystics $^o$ | 3 | 27 | .100 | 1–15 | 17.0 |

## Statistics
### Regular Season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Eva Němcová | 30 | 30 | 32.4 | .466 | .452 | .893 | 3.7 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 11.9 |
| Suzie McConnell-Serio | 28 | 28 | 31.5 | .455 | .408 | .729 | 2.2 | 6.4 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 8.6 |
| Isabelle Fijalkowski | 28 | 23 | 28.8 | .547 | .400 | .821 | 6.9 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 13.7 |
| Janice Braxton | 30 | 30 | 28.0 | .495 | .333 | .755 | 5.6 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 9.8 |
| Michelle Edwards | 23 | 9 | 23.2 | .417 | .324 | .620 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 7.7 |
| Merlakia Jones | 30 | 21 | 22.8 | .464 | .350 | .753 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 9.5 |
| Rushia Brown | 30 | 7 | 17.4 | .460 | .000 | .776 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 6.5 |
| Tully Bevilagua | 11 | 2 | 11.5 | .571 | .333 | .667 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 1.9 |
| Adrienne Johnson | 29 | 0 | 11.4 | .457 | .424 | .722 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 4.6 |
| Cindy Blodgett | 22 | 0 | 8.4 | .288 | .270 | .625 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 2.9 |
| Raegan Scott | 22 | 0 | 7.6 | .368 | .000 | .833 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.7 |
| Tanja Kostić | 5 | 0 | 6.0 | .667 | N/A | .500 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
$^‡$Waived/Released during the season $^†$Traded during the season $^≠$Acquired during the season

## Awards and honors

* Suzie McConnell Serio, WNBA Newcomer of the Year Award
* Isabelle Fijalkowski, WNBA Peak Performer
* Suzie McConnell Serio, WNBA Sportsmanship Award