# 1999 New York Liberty season

The 1999 WNBA season was the third season for the New York Liberty. The Liberty hosted the first WNBA All-Star Game.

## Transactions
### Orlando Miracle expansion draft

The following player was selected in the Orlando Miracle expansion draft from the New York Liberty:
| Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| Kisha Ford | United States | Georgia Tech |

## WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 6 | Crystal Robinson | United States | Colorado Xplosion |
| 2 | 18 | Michele Van Gorp | United States | Duke |
| 3 | 30 | Tamika Whitmore | United States | Memphis |
| 4 | 42 | Carolyn Young | United States | New England Blizzard |

## Transactions

| Date | Transaction |
| September 11, 1998 | Fired Nancy Darsch as Head Coach |
| December 9, 1998 | Hired Richie Adubato as Head Coach |
| April 6, 1999 | Lost Kisha Ford to the Orlando Miracle in the WNBA expansion draft |
| May 4, 1999 | Drafted Crystal Robinson, Michele Van Gorp, Tamika Whitmore and Carolyn Young in the 1999 WNBA Draft |
| May 24, 1999 | Waived Bridgette Gordon and Vanessa Nygaard |
| June 1, 1999 | Signed Venus Lacy |
| June 7, 1999 | Waived Alicia Thompson |
| June 19, 1999 | Signed Becky Hammon |

## Schedule
### Regular season

1999 game log Total: 18–14 (Home: 12–4; Road: 6–10) :
June: 5–2 (Home: 4–1; Road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
June 10
Cleveland
W 87–60
Vickie Johnson (17)
Kym Hampton (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (5)
Madison Square Garden
1–0
2
June 12
@ Charlotte
W 68–57
Sophia Witherspoon (17)
Vickie Johnson (10)
Teresa Weatherspoon (5)
Charlotte Coliseum
2–0
3
June 14
Washington
L 63–81
Tamika Whitmore (13)
Hampton Johnson Weatherspoon (5)
Johnson Weatherspoon (4)
Madison Square Garden
2–1
4
June 18
Los Angeles
W 84–72
Vickie Johnson (26)
Kym Hampton (9)
Crystal Robinson (5)
Madison Square Garden
3–1
5
June 20
Detroit
W 69–62
Tamika Whitmore (16)
Hampton Johnson Whitmore Wicks (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (10)
Madison Square Garden
4–1
6
June 27
Charlotte
W 72–58
Vickie Johnson (14)
Kym Hampton Wicks (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (11)
Madison Square Garden
5–1
7
June 28
@ Detroit
L 71–91
Vickie Johnson (18)
Sue Wicks (12)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
The Palace of Auburn Hills
5–2 :
July
: 6–8 (Home: 4–2; Road: 2–6)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
8
July 1
Phoenix
W 83–67
Vickie Johnson (22)
Hampton Whitmore (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (8)
Madison Square Garden
6–2
9
July 3
@ Houston
L 50–65
Vickie Johnson (20)
Kym Hampton (12)
Teresa Weatherspoon (4)
Compaq Center
6–3
10
July 5
Sacramento
W 76–63
Vickie Johnson (20)
Hampton Wicks (9)
Teresa Weatherspoon (9)
Madison Square Garden
7–3
11
July 6
@ Washington
L 63–71
Teresa Weatherspoon (14)
Hampton Lobo (6)
Johnson Weatherspoon (6)
MCI Center
7–4
12
July 8
@ Cleveland
W 84–49
Sophia Witherspoon (22)
Vickie Johnson (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
Gund Arena
8–4
13
July 11
Minnesota
L 56–58
Crystal Robinson (13)
Sue Wicks (8)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
Madison Square Garden
8–5
14
July 17
@ Minnesota
L 58–60
Vickie Johnson (17)
Sue Wicks (7)
Johnson Wicks (4)
Target Center
8–6
15
July 18
Utah
W 88–82 (OT)
Kym Hampton (20)
Kym Hampton (8)
Teresa Weatherspoon (10)
Madison Square Garden
9–6
16
July 20
Orlando
W 61–56
Crystal Robinson (15)
Sue Wicks (10)
Johnson Weatherspoon (4)
Madison Square Garden
10–6
17
July 22
@ Sacramento
L 55–71
Vickie Johnson (17)
Sue Wicks (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
ARCO Arena
10–7
18
July 24
@ Los Angeles
L 72–75 (OT)
Crystal Robinson (23)
Sue Wicks (10)
Teresa Weatherspoon (12)
Great Western Forum
10–8
19
July 26
Charlotte
L 69–75 (OT)
Crystal Robinson (23)
Sue Wicks (9)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
Madison Square Garden
10–9
20
July 29
@ Orlando
W 73–65 (OT)
Hampton Witherspoon (21)
Kym Hampton (11)
Teresa Weatherspoon (5)
TD Waterhouse Centre
11–9
21
July 30
@ Charlotte
L 58–62
Tamika Whitmore (13)
Kym Hampton (7)
Johnson Weatherspoon (7)
Charlotte Coliseum
11–10 :
August
: 7–4 (Home: 4–1; Road: 3–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
22
August 1
Orlando
W 74–61
Vickie Johnson (18)
Kym Hampton (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (11)
Madison Square Garden
12–10
23
August 3
@ Utah
W 61–59
Vickie Johnson (16)
Teresa Weatherspoon (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (8)
Delta Center
13–10
24
August 6
@ Phoenix
L 55–68
Crystal Robinson (27)
Crystal Robinson (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (6)
America West Arena
13–11
25
August 8
Houston
W 74–71
Sophia Witherspoon (22)
Sue Wicks (9)
Vickie Johnson (6)
Madison Square Garden
14–11
26
August 9
@ Orlando
W 80–75
Crystal Robinson (18)
Sue Wicks (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
TD Waterhouse Centre
15–11
27
August 11
@ Washington
L 56–59 (OT)
Crystal Robinson (16)
Sue Wicks (16)
Vickie Johnson (3)
MCI Center
15–12
28
August 13
@ Detroit
W 60–56
Hampton Robinson Wicks (12)
Sue Wicks (10)
Johnson Weatherspoon (4)
The Palace of Auburn Hills
16–12
29
August 15
Detroit
L 57–63
Teresa Weatherspoon (14)
Sue Wicks (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (7)
Madison Square Garden
16–13
30
August 19
Washington
W 66–54
Tamika Whitmore (20)
Vickie Johnson (7)
Teresa Weatherspoon (8)
Madison Square Garden
17–13
31
August 19
Cleveland
W 72–55
Becky Hammon (16)
Sue Wicks (9)
Crystal Robinson (5)
Madison Square Garden
18–13
32
August 21
@ Cleveland
L 56–66
Johnson Weatherspoon (15)
Sue Wicks (8)
Teresa Weatherspoon (5)
Gund Arena
18–14 :
1999 season schedule :

### Playoffs

1999 playoff game log :
Conference Finals vs. Charlotte Sting Won Series: 2–1
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
August 27
@ Charlotte
L 67–78
Crystal Robinson (17)
Robinson Wicks (6)
Teresa Weatherspoon (8)
Charlotte Coliseum
0–1
2
August 29
Charlotte
W 74–70
Teresa Weatherspoon (19)
Kym Hampton (10)
Teresa Weatherspoon (9)
Madison Square Garden
1–1
3
August 30
Charlotte
W 69–54
Crystal Robinson (18)
Kym Hampton (11)
Teresa Weatherspoon (11)
Madison Square Garden
2–1 :
Championship vs. Houston Comets Lost Series: 1–2
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
September 2
Houston
L 60–73
Sophia Witherspoon (18)
Sue Wicks (11)
Teresa Weatherspoon (10)
Madison Square Garden
0–1
2
September 4
@ Houston
W 68–67
Crystal Robinson (21)
Kym Hampton (9)
Teresa Weatherspoon (5)
Compaq Center
1–1
3
September 5
@ Houston
L 47–59
Sue Wicks (11)
Sue Wicks (9)
Crystal Robinson (3)
Compaq Center
1–2 :
1999 playoff schedule :

### Season standings

| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | Conf. | GB |
| New York Liberty $^x$ | 18 | 14 | .563 | 12–8 | – |
| Detroit Shock $^x$ | 15 | 17 | .469 | 12–8 | 3.0 |
| Charlotte Sting $^x$ | 15 | 17 | .469 | 12–8 | 3.0 |
| Orlando Miracle $^o$ | 15 | 17 | .469 | 9–11 | 3.0 |
| Washington Mystics $^o$ | 12 | 20 | .375 | 10–10 | 6.0 |
| Cleveland Rockers $^o$ | 7 | 25 | .219 | 5–15 | 11.0 |

## Statistics
### Regular Season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Teresa Weatherspoon | 32 | 32 | 33.9 | .421 | .378 | .679 | 3.3 | 6.4 | 2.4 | 0.1 | 7.2 |
| Vickie Johnson | 32 | 32 | 33.8 | .419 | .352 | .837 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 13.3 |
| Sue Wicks | 32 | 30 | 29.3 | .403 | .133 | .615 | 7.0 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 6.8 |
| Crystal Robinson | 32 | 9 | 28.2 | .439 | .437 | .845 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 11.7 |
| Kym Hampton | 32 | 32 | 26.8 | .431 | .500 | .747 | 5.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 9.2 |
| Tamika Whitmore | 27 | 1 | 21.2 | .435 | .125 | .679 | 3.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 7.9 |
| Sophia Witherspoon | 32 | 23 | 18.2 | .396 | .359 | .710 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 8.5 |
| Becky Hammon | 30 | 0 | 6.7 | .422 | .289 | .882 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 2.7 |
| Venus Lacy | 17 | 0 | 6.5 | .417 | N/A | .800 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.9 |
| Michele Van Gorp | 21 | 0 | 5.6 | .333 | N/A | .800 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.0 |
| Coquese Washington | 19 | 0 | 4.1 | .278 | .000 | 1.000 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.6 |
| Rebecca Lobo | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
$^‡$Waived/Released during the season $^†$Traded during the season $^≠$Acquired during the season

## Awards and honors

* Teresa Weatherspoon, Guard, New York Liberty, All-WNBA Second Team