# 2000 New York Liberty season

The 2000 WNBA season was the fourth season for the New York Liberty. The team reached the WNBA Finals for the third time, but they were swept by the Houston Comets.

## Transactions
### Portland Fire expansion draft

The following players were selected in the Portland Fire expansion draft from the New York Liberty:
| Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| Coquese Washington | United States | Notre Dame |

### Seattle Storm expansion draft

The following players were selected in the Seattle Storm expansion draft from the New York Liberty:
| Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| Sonja Henning | United States | Stanford |

### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 13 | Olga Firsova | Soviet Union | Kansas State |
| 2 | 29 | Desiree Francis | Antigua | Iowa State |
| 3 | 45 | Jessica Bibby | Australia | Dandenong Rangers (Australia) |
| 4 | 61 | Natalie Porter | Australia | Dandenong Rangers (Australia) |

### Transactions

| Date | Transaction |
| December 15, 1999 | Lost Coquese Washington to the Portland Fire in the WNBA expansion draft |
| December 15, 1999 | Lost Sonja Henning to the Seattle Storm in the WNBA expansion draft |
| April 25, 2000 | Drafted Olga Firsova, Desiree Francis, Jessica Bibby and Natalie Porter in the 2000 WNBA Draft |
| May 2, 2000 | Signed Alessandra Santos de Oliveira, Marina Ferragut and Shea Mahoney |
| May 15, 2000 | Waived Natalie Porter |
| May 28, 2000 | Traded Carolyn Jones-Young to the Portland Fire in exchange for Tari Phillips |
| May 28, 2000 | Waived Alessandra Santos de Oliveira and Desiree Francis |
| June 2, 2000 | Waived Venus Lacy |
| September 18, 2000 | Traded a 2001 1st Round Pick to the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for Grace Daley |

## Schedule
### Regular season

2000 game log Total: 15–17 (Home: 8–8; Road: 7–9) :
May: 0–2 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 29
@ Houston
L 68-84
Tamika Whitmore (15)
Sue Wicks (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (13)
Compaq Center
0–1
2
May 31
@ Phoenix
L 48-51
Vickie Johnson (14)
Mahoney Wicks (8)
Teresa Weatherspoon (5)
America West Arena
0–2 :
June: 7–5 (Home: 4–4; Road: 3–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
3
June 3
Utah
W 87-76
Becky Hammon (23)
Tari Phillips (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon(7)
Madison Square Garden
1–2
4
June 4
@ Washington
L 67-79
Vickie Johnson (12)
Vickie Johnson (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (6)
MCI Center
1–3
5
June 7
@ Detroit
W 73-69
Vickie Johnson (22)
Vickie Johnson (12)
Teresa Weatherspoon (8)
The Palace of Auburn Hills
2–3
6
June 9
Sacramento
L 56-77
Tari Phillips (25)
Sue Wicks (12)
Hammon Weatherspoon (3)
Madison Square Garden
2–4
7
June 10
@ Indiana
W 70-62
Crystal Robinson (19)
Vickie Johnson (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (6)
Conseco Fieldhouse
3–4
8
June 13
Washington
L 56-57
Johnson Weatherspoon (14)
Tari Phillips (12)
Vickie Johnson (4)
Madison Square Garden
3–5
9
June 18
Miami
W 58-52
Crystal Robinson (18)
Tari Phillips (10)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
Madison Square Garden
4–5
10
June 21
Detroit
L 63-67
Tamika Whitmore (14)
Tari Phillips (8)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
Madison Square Garden
4–6
11
June 23
@ Indiana
W 69-60
Becky Hammon (16)
Sue Wicks (10)
Teresa Weatherspoon (8)
Conseco Fieldhouse
5–6
12
June 25
Los Angeles
L 67-72
Becky Hammon (18)
Tari Phillips (11)
Teresa Weatherspoon (6)
Madison Square Garden
5–7
13
June 28
Phoenix
W 82-69
Tari Phillips (22)
Tari Phillips (10)
Teresa Weatherspoon (8)
Madison Square Garden
6–7
14
June 30
Indiana
W 72-70
Tari Phillips (30)
Tari Phillips (12)
Teresa Weatherspoon (12)
Madison Square Garden
7–7 :
July: 11–3 (Home: 6–0; Road: 5–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
15
July 1
@ Orlando
L 57-69
Tari Phillips (21)
Tari Phillips (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (10)
TD Waterhouse Centre
7–8
16
July 3
@ Cleveland
L 65-66 (OT)
Tamika Whitmore (17)
Tari Phillips (8)
Vickie Johnson (6)
Gund Arena
7–9
17
July 5
Portland
W 62-45
Hammon Johnson (15)
Tari Phillips (10)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
Madison Square Garden
8–9
18
July 7
@ Minnesota
W 76-70
Tari Phillips (26)
Tari Phillips (12)
Teresa Weatherspoon (8)
Target Center
9–9
19
July 8
Miami
W 63-51
Tamika Whitmore (17)
Sue Wicks (8)
Teresa Weatherspoon (6)
Madison Square Garden
10–9
20
July 12
Charlotte
W 84-70
Vickie Johnson (19)
Tari Phillips (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
Madison Square Garden
11–9
21
July 14
@ Orlando
W 55-51
Vickie Johnson (15)
Tari Phillips (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
TD Waterhouse Centre
12–9
22
July 19
@ Seattle
W 78-55
Vickie Johnson (18)
Tari Phillips (9)
Teresa Weatherspoon (5)
KeyArena
13–9
23
July 20
@ Los Angeles
L 66-82
Vickie Johnson (17)
Sue Wicks (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (5)
Great Western Forum
13–10
24
July 23
Houston
W 69-64
Hammon Phillips (17)
Tari Phillips (11)
Johnson Weatherspoon (6)
Madison Square Garden
14–10
25
July 24
@ Washington
W 78-64
Vickie Johnson (22)
Tari Phillips (9)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
MCI Center
15–10
26
July 28
@ Charlotte
W 66-56
Johnson Phillips (15)
Tari Phillips (11)
Weatherspoon Wicks (4)
Charlotte Coliseum
16–10
27
July 29
Cleveland
W 81-67
Crystal Robinson (17)
Vickie Johnson (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
Madison Square Garden
17–10
28
July 31
Charlotte
W 81-56
Vickie Johnson (20)
Tari Phillips (9)
Teresa Weatherspoon (5)
Madison Square Garden
18–10 :
August: 2–2 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
29
August 4
Orlando
W 70-57
Tari Phillips (18)
Tamika Whitmore (8)
Vickie Johnson (8)
Madison Square Garden
19–10
30
August 6
@ Miami
L 41-57
Tamika Whitmore (10)
Tamika Whitmore (10)
Crystal Robinson (4)
American Airlines Arena
19–11
31
August 8
Cleveland
W 57-44
Tari Phillips (14)
Tari Phillips (11)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
Madison Square Garden
20–11
32
August 9
@ Detroit
L 63-66
Tari Phillips (14)
Tari Phillips (5)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
The Palace of Auburn Hills
20–12 :

### Playoffs

2000 playoff game log :
First round vs. Washington Mystics Won Series: 2–0
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
August 12
@ Washington
W 72–63
Johnson Phillips (20)
Vickie Johnson (8)
Teresa Weatherspoon (9)
MCI Center
1–0
2
August 14
Washington
W 78–57
Becky Hammon (19)
Tari Phillips (10)
Teresa Weatherspoon (10)
Madison Square Garden
2–0 :
Conference Finals vs. Cleveland Rockers Won Series: 2–1
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
August 17
@ Cleveland
L 43–56
Tari Phillips (11)
Tari Phillips (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (3)
Gund Arena
0–1
2
August 20
Cleveland
W 51–45
Becky Hammon (13)
Tari Phillips (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (5)
Madison Square Garden
1–1
3
August 21
Cleveland
W 81–67
Tamika Whitmore (19)
Sue Wicks (7)
Vickie Johnson (10)
Madison Square Garden
2–1 :
Championship vs. Houston Comets Lost Series: 0–2
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
August 24
Houston
L 52–59
Tari Phillips (24)
Tari Phillips (15)
Teresa Weatherspoon (5)
Madison Square Garden
0–1
2
August 26
@ Houston
L 73–79
Tari Phillips (20)
Tari Phillips (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (8)
Compaq Center
0-2 :
2000 playoff schedule :

### Season standings

| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | Conf. | GB |
| New York Liberty $^x$ | 20 | 12 | .625 | 14–7 | – |
| Cleveland Rockers $^x$ | 17 | 15 | .531 | 13–8 | 3.0 |
| Orlando Miracle $^x$ | 16 | 16 | .500 | 13–8 | 4.0 |
| Washington Mystics $^x$ | 14 | 18 | .438 | 13–8 | 6.0 |
| Detroit Shock $^o$ | 14 | 18 | .438 | 10–11 | 6.0 |
| Miami Sol $^o$ | 13 | 19 | .406 | 9–12 | 7.0 |
| Indiana Fever $^o$ | 9 | 23 | .281 | 7–14 | 11.0 |
| Charlotte Sting $^o$ | 8 | 24 | .250 | 5–16 | 12.0 |

## Statistics
### Regular Season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Teresa Weatherspoon | 32 | 32 | 33.7 | .438 | .250 | .741 | 3.4 | 6.4 | 2.0 | 0.2 | 6.4 |
| Vickie Johnson | 31 | 31 | 33.0 | .441 | .380 | .882 | 4.4 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 12.3 |
| Tari Phillips | 31 | 30 | 31.5 | .467 | .250 | .654 | 8.0 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 13.8 |
| Crystal Robinson | 27 | 14 | 26.7 | .428 | .353 | .909 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 8.8 |
| Becky Hammon | 32 | 16 | 26.1 | .472 | .369 | .884 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 11.0 |
| Tamika Whitmore | 32 | 16 | 21.5 | .431 | .000 | .702 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 8.7 |
| Sue Wicks | 32 | 12 | 21.3 | .385 | .200 | .726 | 4.7 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 4.9 |
| Shea Mahoney | 15 | 3 | 10.5 | .289 | .200 | .500 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.8 |
| Venus Lacy | 2 | 2 | 9.0 | .400 | N/A | .500 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| Marina Ferragut | 23 | 4 | 6.7 | .434 | .300 | .500 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 2.2 |
| Jessica Bibby | 17 | 0 | 4.1 | .167 | .333 | .846 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| Olga Firsova | 9 | 0 | 2.1 | .400 | .000 | .800 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.3 |
| Desiree Francis | 1 | 0 | 2.0 | .000 | N/A | N/A | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
$^‡$Waived/Released during the season $^†$Traded during the season $^≠$Acquired during the season