# 1997 Phoenix Mercury season

The 1997 WNBA season was the first for the Phoenix Mercury.

## Transactions
### WNBA allocation draft

| Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| Jennifer Gillom | United States | Ole Miss |
| Michele Timms | Australia | WTV Wuppertal (Germany) |

### WNBA elite draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 7 | Bridget Pettis | United States | Florida |
| 2 | 15 | Nancy Lieberman-Cline | United States | Old Dominion |

### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 8 | Toni Foster | United States | Iowa |
| 2 | 9 | Tia Jackson | United States | Iowa |
| 3 | 24 | Umeki Webb | United States | NC State |
| 4 | 25 | Monique Ambers | United States | Arizona State |

### Transactions

| Date | Transaction |
| January 22, 1997 | Drafted Jennifer Gillom and Michele Timms in the 1997 WNBA Allocation Draft |
| January 27, 1997 | Hired Cheryl Miller as Head Coach |
| February 27, 1997 | Drafted Bridget Pettis and Nancy Lieberman-Cline in the 1997 WNBA Elite Draft |
| April 28, 1997 | Drafted Toni Foster, Tia Jackson, Umeki Webb and Monique Ambers in the 1997 WNBA Draft |
| May 22, 1997 | Signed Marlies Askamp and Tara Williams |
| June 20, 1997 | Waived Ryneldi Becenti |
| July 22, 1997 | Waived Molly Tuter |
| July 22, 1997 | Signed Ryneldi Becenti |
| July 31, 1997 | Traded future considerations to the Sacramento Monarchs in exchange for Mikiko Hagiwara |

## Schedule
### Regular season

1997 game log Total: 16–12 (Home: 11–3; Road: 5–9) :
June: 2–2 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
June 22
Charlotte
W 76–59
Bridget Pettis (17)
Toni Foster (8)
Michele Timms (6)
America West Arena
1–0
2
June 24
@ Houston
L 55–72
Toni Foster (13)
Askamp Foster Webb (5)
Umeki Webb (4)
The Summit
1–1
3
June 26
@ Cleveland
W 68–63
Gillom Pettis (14)
Foster Webb (7)
Michele Timms (4)
Gund Arena
2–1
4
June 29
@ New York
L 57–65
Jennifer Gillom (23)
Gillom Webb (10)
Michele Timms (5)
Madison Square Garden
2–2 :
July: 6–6 (Home: 3–3; Road: 3–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
5
July 3
@ Utah
W 77–55
Jennifer Gillom (21)
Toni Foster (9)
Michele Timms (9)
Delta Center
3–2
6
July 7
New York
W 69–50
Bridget Pettis (25)
Jennifer Gillom (13)
Michele Timms (9)
America West Arena
4–2
7
July 9
Houston
W 66–53
Jennifer Gillom (20)
Marlies Askamp (10)
Umeki Webb (7)
America West Arena
5–2
8
July 12
@ Utah
L 51–52
Toni Foster (14)
Toni Foster (7)
Umeki Webb (3)
Delta Center
5–3
9
July 13
@ Los Angeles
W 57–56
Michele Timms (17)
Umeki Webb (6)
Michele Timms (3)
Great Western Forum
6–3
10
July 16
Sacramento
W 84–67
Jennifer Gillom (19)
Bridget Pettis (7)
Michele Timms (5)
America West Arena
7–3
11
July 21
@ Sacramento
W 70–57
Jennifer Gillom (19)
Toni Foster (11)
Michele Timms (7)
ARCO Arena
8–3
12
July 22
Houston
L 69–77
Michele Timms (24)
Bridget Pettis (7)
Bridget Pettis (4)
America West Arena
8–4
13
July 17
Los Angeles
L 83–86 (OT)
Gillom Pettis (17)
Jennifer Gillom (9)
Michele Timms (9)
America West Arena
8–5
14
July 28
Cleveland
L 64–76
Jennifer Gillom (19)
Marlies Askamp (8)
Tia Jackson (4)
America West Arena
8–6
15
July 30
@ Charlotte
L 67–68
Jennifer Gillom (16)
Marlies Askamp (6)
Michele Timms (4)
Charlotte Coliseum
8–7
16
July 31
@ Cleveland
L 67–79
Askamp Gillom (12)
Tia Jackson (8)
Nancy Lieberman-Cline (4)
Gund Arena
8–8 :
August: 8–4 (Home: 7–0; Road: 1–4)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
17
August 2
@ New York
L 70–80
Michele Timms (20)
Jennifer Gillom (9)
Michele Timms (6)
Madison Square Garden
8–9
18
August 4
Sacramento
W 83–60
Bridget Pettis (23)
Toni Foster (8)
Askamp Foster Pettis Timms (3)
America West Arena
9–9
19
August 6
Utah
W 78–46
Michele Timms (18)
Askamp Webb (9)
Michele Timms (7)
America West Arena
10–9
20
August 7
@ Houston
L 70–74
Michele Timms (24)
Foster Timms (6)
Michele Timms (4)
The Summit
10–10
21
August 9
@ Charlotte
L 59–79
Bridget Pettis (14)
Toni Foster (7)
Bridget Pettis (3)
Charlotte Coliseum
10–11
22
August 12
New York
W 77–67
Jennifer Gillom (23)
Jennifer Gillom (8)
Michele Timms (7)
America West Arena
11–11
23
August 14
Cleveland
W 61–55
Jennifer Gillom (19)
Foster Timms (7)
Michele Timms (6)
America West Arena
12–11
24
August 17
Utah
W 71–63
Jennifer Gillom (15)
Gillom Timms (7)
Michele Timms (5)
America West Arena
13–11
25
August 18
@ Los Angeles
L 66–75
Jennifer Gillom (18)
Marlies Askamp (9)
Michele Timms (4)
Great Western Forum
13–12
26
August 20
@ Sacramento
W 69–54
Bridget Pettis (18)
Toni Foster (11)
Umeki Webb (4)
ARCO Arena
14–12
27
August 22
Charlotte
W 78–63
Bridget Pettis (27)
Jennifer Gillom (5)
Michele Timms (8)
America West Arena
15–12
28
August 24
Los Angeles
W 73–68 (OT)
Jennifer Gillom (29)
Askamp Pettis (9)
Michele Timms (7)
America West Arena
16–12 :
1997 season schedule :

### Playoffs

1997 playoff game log :
Semifinal vs. New York Liberty
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
August 28
New York
L 41–59
Askamp Gillom (9)
Jennifer Gillom (7)
Pettis Webb (2)
America West Arena
0–1 :
1997 playoff schedule :

### Season standings

| Western Conference | W | L | PCT | Conf. | GB |
| Phoenix Mercury $^x$ | 16 | 12 | .571 | 9–3 | – |
| Los Angeles Sparks $^o$ | 14 | 14 | .500 | 8–4 | 2.0 |
| Sacramento Monarchs $^o$ | 10 | 18 | .357 | 4–8 | 6.0 |
| Utah Starzz $^o$ | 7 | 21 | .250 | 3–9 | 9.0 |

## Statistics
### Regular Season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Michele Timms | 27 | 27 | 35.8 | .336 | .345 | .760 | 3.7 | 5.0 | 2.6 | 0.1 | 12.1 |
| Jennifer Gillom | 28 | 28 | 31.2 | .434 | .313 | .777 | 5.4 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 15.7 |
| Bridget Pettis | 28 | 28 | 30.1 | .334 | .306 | .898 | 3.8 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 12.6 |
| Umeki Webb | 28 | 17 | 27.7 | .297 | 0.67 | .687 | 4.2 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 5.0 |
| Toni Foster | 28 | 28 | 26.3 | .468 | .167 | .704 | 6.1 | 1.0 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 8.8 |
| Marlies Askamp | 28 | 1 | 18.5 | .393 | .000 | .763 | 5.2 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 7.5 |
| Mikiko Hagiwara | 12 | 5 | 15.5 | .256 | .286 | .500 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 2.8 |
| Tia Jackson | 26 | 6 | 12.3 | .342 | .375 | .840 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 2.8 |
| Nancy Lieberman-Cline | 25 | 0 | 11.2 | .325 | .231 | .800 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 2.6 |
| Ryneldi Becenti | 1 | 0 | 8.0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Tara Williams | 12 | 0 | 7.0 | .410 | .455 | N/A | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 3.1 |
| Monique Ambers | 19 | 0 | 4.5 | .444 | N/A | .400 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 |
| Molly Tuter | 3 | 0 | 1.0 | .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
* Toni Foster ranked ninth in the WNBA in total rebounds with 172
* Toni Foster was ranked ninth in the WNBA in steals with 53.
* Toni Foster tied for seventh in the WNBA in blocks with 21.
* Toni Foster ranked seventh in the WNBA in Field Goal Percentage (.468)
* Jennifer Gillom ranked tenth in the WNBA in Free Throw Pct with .777
* Jennifer Gillom ranked fourth in the WNBA in field goals with 163
* Jennifer Gillom ranked fifth in the WNBA in points with 440 points.
* Jennifer Gillom ranked fifth in the WNBA in points per game with 15.7
* Bridget Pettis was tied for tenth in the WNBA in steals with 49.
* Michele Timms ranked third in the WNBA in minutes per game with 35.8
* Michele Timms ranked second in the WNBA in steals with 71.
* Michele Timms ranked third in the WNBA in assists with 137.
* Chantel Tremitiere ranked fourth in the WNBA in assists with 135.
* Umeki Webb ranked fourth in the WNBA in steals with 68.

## Awards and honors

* Jennifer Gillom, Center, All-WNBA Second Team
* Bridget Pettis: Led WNBA, Free Throw Percentage, .898
* Michele Timms: Third in WNBA, 3-Pt Field Goals, 49