# 2001 Phoenix Mercury season

The 2001 WNBA season was the fifth for the Phoenix Mercury. Cynthia Cooper became the second head coach in franchise history.

## Transactions
### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 13 | Kristen Veal | Australia | Canberra Capitals (Australia) |
| 2 | 29 | Ilona Korstine | Soviet Union | CJM Bourges Basket (France) |
| 3 | 45 | Tere Williams | United States | Virginia Tech |
| 4 | 53 | Carolyn Moos | United States | Stanford |
| 4 | 61 | Megan Franza | United States | Washington |

### Transactions

| Date | Transaction |
| December 1, 2000 | Cheryl Miller resigned as Head Coach |
| January 8, 2001 | Hired Cynthia Cooper as Head Coach |
| April 20, 2001 | Drafted Kristen Veal, Ilona Korstine, Tere Williams, Carolyn Moos and Megan Franza in the 2001 WNBA Draft |
| April 30, 2001 | Signed Pat Luckey and Slobodanka Tuvić |
| May 7, 2001 | Waived Megan Franza |
| May 27, 2001 | Traded a 2002 2nd Round Pick to the Cleveland Rockers in exchange for Jaynetta Saunders |
| May 27, 2001 | Waived Amanda Wilson, Carolyn Moos, Nicole Kubik and Tere Williams |
| May 31, 2001 | Suspended contract of Brandy Reed |
| June 5, 2001 | Waived Michelle Cleary |
| June 5, 2001 | Signed Nicole Kubik |
| June 16, 2001 | Waived Nicole Kubik |
| June 22, 2001 | Traded Tonya Edwards to the Charlotte Sting in exchange for a 2002 2nd Round Pick |
| June 22, 2001 | Suspended contract of Ilona Korstine |
| June 29, 2001 | Waived Pat Luckey |
| June 29, 2001 | Signed E.C. Hill |
| July 4, 2001 | Waived E.C. Hill |
| August 3, 2001 | Signed Adriana Moisés |

## Schedule
### Regular season

2001 game log Total: 13–19 (Home: 10–6; Road: 3–13) :
May: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 30
Utah
L 62–81
Tonya Edwards (15)
Maria Stepanova (7)
Michelle Cleary (3)
America West Arena
0–1
2
May 31
@ Seattle
L 70–83
Edwards Harrison (14)
Bridget Pettis (8)
Kristen Veal (5)
KeyArena
0–2 :
June: 4–6 (Home: 3–3; Road: 1–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
3
June 2
@ Minnesota
W 89–80
Bridget Pettis (26)
Lisa Harrison (7)
Michelle Cleary (6)
Target Center
1–2
4
June 4
@ Portland
L 69–71 (OT)
Jennifer Gillom (14)
Jennifer Gillom (11)
Kristen Veal (5)
Rose Garden
1–3
5
June 5
Charlotte
W 76–69
Trisha Fallon (18)
Maria Stepanova (8)
Kristen Veal (7)
America West Arena
2–3
6
June 10
Houston
L 58–60
Jennifer Gillom (15)
Harrison Stepanova (6)
Kristen Veal (10)
America West Arena
2–4
7
June 12
Sacramento
W 78–64
Jennifer Gillom (24)
Stepanova Tuvić (7)
Kristen Veal (9)
America West Arena
3–4
8
June 14
@ Sacramento
L 59–81
Lisa Harrison (13)
Maria Stepanova (5)
Kristen Veal (5)
ARCO Arena
3–5
9
June 16
Orlando
W 72–68
Lisa Harrison (15)
Adrian Williams (6)
Kristen Veal (8)
America West Arena
4–5
10
June 21
New York
L 70–95
Pettis Williams (12)
Adrian Williams (7)
Kristen Veal (3)
America West Arena
4–6
11
June 22
Seattle
L 55–58
Trisha Fallon (12)
Maria Stepanova (6)
Michele Timms (5)
America West Arena
4–7
12
June 29
@ Detroit
L 71–75
Jennifer Gillom (25)
Jennifer Gillom (9)
Michele Timms (5)
The Palace of Auburn Hills
4–8 :
July
: 7–5 (Home: 5–1; Road: 2–4)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
13
July 1
@ Indiana
L 78–86 (OT)
Trisha Fallon (18)
Maria Stepanova (9)
Michele Timms (7)
Conseco Fieldhouse
4–9
14
July 4
Miami
W 60–47
Kristen Veal (16)
Gillom Stepanova (5)
Kristen Veal (4)
America West Arena
5–9
15
July 5
@ Los Angeles
L 50–73
Adrian Williams (12)
Fallon Stepanova (5)
Korstine Timms (3)
Staples Center
5–10
16
July 7
Washington
W 66–52
Trisha Fallon (16)
Maria Stepanova (9)
Michele Timms (6)
America West Arena
6–10
17
July 11
Los Angeles
L 61–75
Jennifer Gillom (15)
Gillom Timms (6)
Kristen Veal (7)
America West Arena
6–11
18
July 13
@ Cleveland
L 61–69
Maria Stepanova (13)
Michele Timms (6)
Michele Timms (7)
Gund Arena
6–12
19
July 14
@ Minnesota
W 80–67
Maria Stepanova (19)
Maria Stepanova (9)
Michele Timms (5)
Target Center
7–12
20
July 19
Portland
W 60–58
Jennifer Gillom (18)
Maria Stepanova (10)
Timms Veal (4)
America West Arena
8–12
21
July 21
Utah
W 59–50
Jennifer Gillom (18)
Jaynetta Saunders (9)
Maria Stepanova (5)
America West Arena
9–12
22
July 26
Detroit
W 63–62
Maria Stepanova (20)
Gillom Stepanova (5)
Michele Timms (5)
America West Arena
10–12
23
July 27
@ Seattle
W 56–54
Maria Stepanova (11)
Maria Stepanova (9)
Jennifer Gillom (4)
KeyArena
11–12
24
July 29
@ Sacramento
L 47–63
Trisha Fallon (18)
Maria Stepanova (8)
Timms Tuvić (3)
ARCO Arena
11–13 :
August
: 2–6 (Home: 2–1; Road: 0–5)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
25
August 1
Minnesota
L 63–68
Gillom Stepanova (15)
Slobodanka Tuvić (6)
Timms Veal (5)
America West Arena
11–14
26
August 3
@ Miami
L 61–72
Jennifer Gillom (25)
Adriana Moisés (5)
Gillom Moisés Tuvić Veal (2)
American Airlines Arena
11–15
27
August 3
@ Orlando
L 69–78
Trisha Fallon (17)
Jennifer Gillom (7)
Kristen Veal (7)
TD Waterhouse Centre
11–16
28
August 6
@ Houston
L 48–62
Trisha Fallon (12)
Maria Stepanova (11)
Moisés Veal (3)
Compaq Center
11–17
29
August 8
@ Los Angeles
L 67–79
Trisha Fallon (15)
Jennifer Gillom (6)
Michele Timms (6)
Staples Center
11–18
30
August 10
@ Utah
L 57–69
Jennifer Gillom (10)
Stepanova Tuvić (5)
Michele Timms (4)
Delta Center
11–19
31
August 11
Portland
W 73–62
Trisha Fallon (24)
Jennifer Gillom (8)
Fallon Gillom (3)
America West Arena
12–19
32
August 14
Houston
W 56–38
Trisha Fallon (14)
Fallon Harrison (7)
Timms Veal (4)
America West Arena
13–19 :
2001 season schedule :

### Season standings

| Western Conference | W | L | PCT | Conf. | GB |
| Los Angeles Sparks $^x$ | 28 | 4 | .875 | 19–2 | – |
| Sacramento Monarchs $^x$ | 20 | 12 | .625 | 13–8 | 8.0 |
| Utah Starzz $^x$ | 19 | 13 | .594 | 11–10 | 9.0 |
| Houston Comets $^x$ | 19 | 13 | .594 | 13–8 | 9.0 |
| Phoenix Mercury $^o$ | 13 | 19 | .406 | 8–13 | 15.0 |
| Minnesota Lynx $^o$ | 12 | 20 | .375 | 9–12 | 16.0 |
| Portland Fire $^o$ | 11 | 21 | .344 | 5–16 | 17.0 |
| Seattle Storm $^o$ | 10 | 22 | .313 | 6–15 | 18.0 |

## Statistics
### Regular Season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Lisa Harrison | 32 | 32 | 28,6 | .430 | .333 | .864 | 4.3 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 7.7 |
| Trisha Fallon | 31 | 16 | 27.1 | .490 | .405 | .815 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 10.4 |
| Jennifer Gillom | 32 | 32 | 26.8 | .423 | .343 | .740 | 4.0 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 12.3 |
| Maria Stepanova | 32 | 31 | 25.5 | .507 | .000 | .615 | 6.3 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 10.4 |
| Kristen Veal | 29 | 14 | 22.7 | .280 | .280 | .762 | 2.1 | 4.3 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 4.0 |
| Tonya Edwards | 10 | 9 | 20.8 | .366 | .357 | .787 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 9.4 |
| Michele Timms | 21 | 18 | 19.4 | .345 | .304 | .800 | 2.1 | 4.1 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 4.7 |
| Adriana Moisés | 7 | 0 | 17.6 | .389 | .333 | .750 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 5.9 |
| Bridget Pettis | 32 | 1 | 15.5 | .333 | .317 | .821 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 5.4 |
| Adrian Williams | 25 | 1 | 15.0 | .336 | N/A | .714 | 3.0 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 3.8 |
| Brandy Reed | 1 | 0 | 13.0 | .125 | N/A | 1.000 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| Michelle Cleary | 4 | 0 | 12.3 | .000 | .000 | 1.000 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Slobodanka Tuvić | 30 | 0 | 10.8 | .310 | N/A | .475 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.8 |
| Jaynetta Saunders | 28 | 6 | 9.0 | .325 | .333 | .680 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 2.4 |
| Pat Luckey | 1 | 0 | 8.0 | .000 | N/A | N/A | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| Nicole Kubik | 3 | 0 | 7.0 | .250 | .000 | N/A | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
| Ilona Korstine | 12 | 0 | 6.3 | .280 | .333 | .857 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.8 |
| E.C. Hill | 3 | 0 | 2.7 | .000 | .000 | N/A | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
$^‡$Waived/Released during the season $^†$Traded during the season $^≠$Acquired during the season