# 2002 New York Liberty season

The 2002 WNBA season was the sixth season for the New York Liberty. The Liberty franchise reached their 4th berth to the WNBA Finals, but lost in a sweep to the Los Angeles Sparks. This was the last season that New York qualified for the WNBA Finals, before their appearance in 2023.

## Transactions
### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 2 | 26 | Linda Fröhlich | West Germany | UNLV |
| 3 | 46 | Tracy Gahan | United States | Iowa State |
| 4 | 62 | Deedee Warley | United States | Maryland |

### Transactions

| Date | Transaction |
| April 3, 2002 | Traded Rebecca Lobo to the Houston Comets in exchange for a 2002 2nd Round Pick |
| April 18, 2002 | Traded a 2002 1st Round Pick to the Utah Starzz in exchange for Korie Hlede |
| April 19, 2002 | Drafted Linda Fröhlich, Tracy Gahan, and Deedee Warley in the 2002 WNBA Draft |
| April 22, 2002 | Traded Andrea Nagy to the Sacramento Monarchs in exchange for a 2003 2nd Round Pick |
| April 23, 2002 | Traded Grace Daley to the Houston Comets in exchange for a 2003 2nd Round Pick |
| May 7, 2002 | Waived Bethany Donaphin and Deedee Warley |
| May 8, 2002 | Waived Shondra Johnson |
| May 21, 2002 | Waived Mactabene Amachree and Tracy Gahan |
| July 2, 2002 | Waived Marina Ferragut |

## Schedule
### Regular season

2002 game log Total: 18–14 (Home: 10–6; Road: 8–8) :
May: 2–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 25
@ Los Angeles
L 64–72
Vickie Johnson (19)
Vickie Johnson (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (5)
Staples Center
0–1
2
May 28
@ Portland
W 84–62
Becky Hammon (22)
Tari Phillips (9)
Teresa Weatherspoon (11)
Rose Garden
1–1
3
May 30
@ Seattle
W 78–61
Crystal Robinson (17)
Johnson Whitmore (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (4)
KeyArena
2–1 :
June
: 6–7 (Home: 4–3; Road: 2–4)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
4
June 2
Miami
W 58–52
Crystal Robinson (16)
Phillips Whitmore (5)
Teresa Weatherspoon (3)
Madison Square Garden
3–1
5
June 5
Detroit
W 60–59
Vickie Johnson (21)
Tari Phillips (8)
Teresa Weatherspoon (4)
Madison Square Garden
4–1
6
June 8
@ Indiana
L 62–71
Tamika Whitmore (18)
Phillips Wicks (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (6)
Conseco Fieldhouse
4–2
7
June 9
@ Detroit
W 70–63
Crystal Robinson (19)
Phillips Wicks (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (4)
The Palace of Auburn Hills
5–2
8
June 11
@ Utah
W 71–68
Tari Phillips (22)
Tari Phillips (8)
Teresa Weatherspoon (5)
Delta Center
6–2
9
June 13
@ Sacramento
L 77–78 (2OT)
Tamika Whitmore (21)
Phillips Robinson (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (12)
ARCO Arena
6–3
10
June 16
Charlotte
W 54–53
Vickie Johnson (15)
Tari Phillips (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (5)
Madison Square Garden
7–3
11
June 18
Orlando
L 62–71
Crystal Robinson (19)
Tari Phillips (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (6)
Madison Square Garden
7–4
12
June 21
@ Cleveland
L 69–80
Vickie Johnson (19)
Tari Phillips (5)
Teresa Weatherspoon (9)
Gund Arena
7–5
13
June 23
@ Orlando
L 65–77
Tari Phillips (16)
Phillips Whitmore (8)
Johnson Weatherspoon (5)
TD Waterhouse Centre
7–6
14
June 25
Indiana
W 74–55
Crystal Robinson (24)
Tari Phillips (8)
Teresa Weatherspoon (10)
Madison Square Garden
8–6
15
June 28
Cleveland
L 58–67
Tari Phillips (18)
Tari Phillips (9)
Robinson Weatherspoon (4)
Madison Square Garden
8–7
16
June 30
Portland
L 44–54
Crystal Robinson (17)
Tari Phillips (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (6)
Madison Square Garden
8–8 :
July
: 7–2 (Home: 5–0; Road: 2–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
17
July 2
Seattle
W 74–63
Tari Phillips (19)
Hammon Phillips Weathersppon Wicks (3)
Johnson Weathersppon (6)
Madison Square Garden
9–8
18
July 8
Phoenix
W 77–71
Tamika Whitmore (28)
Phillips Whitmore (5)
Teresa Weatherspoon (9)
Madison Square Garden
10–8
19
July 10
@ Detroit
L 63–66
Crystal Robinson (17)
Tari Phillips (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (5)
The Palace of Auburn Hills
10–9
20
July 13
@ Washington
W 67–53
Vickie Johnson (19)
Tari Phillips (12)
Vickie Johnson (5)
MCI Center
11–9
21
July 18
Los Angeles
W 72–59
Tamika Whitmore (25)
Tari Phillips (9)
Teresa Weatherspoon (6)
Target Center
12–9
22
July 19
@ Indiana
W 70–62
Becky Hammon (15)
Tari Phillips (5)
Vickie Johnson (4)
Conseco Fieldhouse
13–9
23
July 22
Cleveland
W 73–52
Tari Phillips (15)
Hammon Phillips (5)
Hammon Johnson (3)
Madison Square Garden
14–9
24
July 23
@ Miami
L 46–54
Crystal Robinson (12)
Tamika Whitmore (8)
Teresa Weatherspoon (3)
American Airlines Arena
14–10
25
July 28
Houston
W 62–56
Tamika Whitmore (15)
Phillips Whitmore (8)
Teresa Weatherspoon (4)
Madison Square Garden
15–10 :
August
: 3–4 (Home: 1–3; Road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
26
August 2
Miami
W 66–54
Vickie Johnson (20)
Tari Phillips (8)
Teresa Weatherspoon (10)
Madison Square Garden
16–10
27
August 4
@ Charlotte
W 71–58
Vickie Johnson (20)
Sue Wicks (9)
Teresa Weatherspoon (8)
Charlotte Coliseum
17–10
28
August 6
Minnesota
L 49–52
Tari Phillips (17)
Tari Phillips (11)
Vickie Johnson (6)
Madison Square Garden
17–11
29
August 8
Washington
L 54–65
Tari Phillips (22)
Tari Phillips (11)
Hammon Weatherspoon (4)
Madison Square Garden
17–12
30
August 9
@ Washington
W 74–66
Becky Hammon (22)
Weatherspoon Whitmore (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (8)
MCI Center
18–12
31
August 11
Charlotte
L 58–71
Crystal Robinson (16)
Tamika Whitmore (8)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
Madison Square Garden
18–13
32
August 13
@ Orlando
L 63–70
Phillips Whitmore (20)
Tari Phillips (10)
Hammon Robinson (3)
TD Waterhouse Centre
18–14 :
2002 season schedule :

### Playoffs

2002 playoff game log :
First round vs. Indiana Fever Won Series: 2–1
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
August 16
@ Indiana
L 55–73
Tamika Whitmore (18)
Becky Hammon (5)
Teresa Weatherspoon (4)
Conseco Fieldhouse
0–1
2
August 18
Indiana
W 84–65
Tamika Whitmore (24)
Tamika Whitmore (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (9)
Madison Square Garden
1–1
3
August 20
Indiana
W 75–60
Vickie Johnson (19)
Vickie Johnson (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
Madison Square Garden
2–1 :
Conference Finals vs. Washington Mystics Won Series: 2–1
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
August 22
@ Washington
L 74–79
Tari Phillips (21)
Phillips Robinson Weatherspoon Whitmore (5)
Teresa Weatherspoon (9)
MCI Center
0–1
2
August 24
Washington
W 96–79
Phillips Whitmore (23)
Tari Phillips (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (12)
Madison Square Garden
1–1
3
August 25
Washington
W 64–57
Vickie Johnson (19)
Tari Phillips (11)
Teresa Weatherspoon (4)
Madison Square Garden
2–1 :
WNBA Finals vs. Los Angeles Sparks Lost Series: 0–2
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
August 29
Los Angeles
L 63–71
Becky Hammon (18)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
Johnson Phillips Weatherspoon (3)
Madison Square Garden
0–1
2
August 31
@ Los Angeles
L 66–69
Phillips Whitmore (17)
Tari Phillips (8)
Teresa Weatherspoon (5)
Staples Center
0–2 :
2002 playoff schedule :

### Season standings

| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | Conf. | GB |
| New York Liberty $^x$ | 18 | 14 | .563 | 11–10 | – |
| Charlotte Sting $^x$ | 18 | 14 | .563 | 12–9 | – |
| Washington Mystics $^x$ | 17 | 15 | .531 | 12–9 | 1.0 |
| Indiana Fever $^x$ | 16 | 16 | .500 | 12–9 | 2.0 |
| Orlando Miracle $^o$ | 16 | 16 | .500 | 13–8 | 2.0 |
| Miami Sol $^o$ | 15 | 17 | .469 | 11–10 | 3.0 |
| Cleveland Rockers $^o$ | 10 | 22 | .312 | 7–14 | 8.0 |
| Detroit Shock $^o$ | 9 | 23 | .281 | 6–15 | 9.0 |

## Statistics
### Regular Season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Crystal Robinson | 32 | 32 | 33.4 | .417 | .370 | .819 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 11.8 |
| Vickie Johnson | 31 | 31 | 33.2 | .456 | .421 | .803 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 11.6 |
| Tari Phillips | 32 | 31 | 31.5 | .491 | .000 | .675 | 7.0 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 14.1 |
| Tamika Whitmore | 32 | 32 | 30.5 | .477 | .000 | .733 | 4.4 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 12.7 |
| Teresa Weatherspoon | 32 | 32 | 29.8 | .342 | .100 | .519 | 2.7 | 5.7 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 3.4 |
| Becky Hammon | 32 | 1 | 20.6 | .442 | .386 | .679 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 8.0 |
| Sue Wicks | 30 | 0 | 14.3 | .343 | .000 | .667 | 3.4 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 2.2 |
| Korie Hlede | 16 | 0 | 8.1 | .423 | .000 | .444 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.6 |
| Camille Cooper | 23 | 1 | 5.2 | .393 | N/A | .625 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.2 |
| Linda Fröhlich | 16 | 0 | 4.2 | .100 | .000 | 1.000 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| Bernadette Ngoyisa | 7 | 0 | 1.7 | .600 | N/A | N/A | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.9 |
$^‡$Waived/Released during the season $^†$Traded during the season $^≠$Acquired during the season