# 1998 Phoenix Mercury season

The 1998 WNBA season was the second season for the Phoenix Mercury. The Mercury reached their first WNBA Finals, but championship hopes were denied when they lost to the Houston Comets in three games.

## Transactions
### Detroit Shock expansion draft

The following player was selected in the Detroit Shock expansion draft from the Phoenix Mercury:
| Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| Tara Williams | United States | Auburn |

### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 8 | Maria Stepanova | Soviet Union | CSKA Moscow (Russia) |
| 2 | 18 | Andrea Kuklová | Czechoslovakia | Pays d'Aix Basket 13 (France) |
| 3 | 28 | Brandy Reed | United States | Southern Miss |
| 4 | 38 | Karen Wilkins | United States | Howard |

### Transactions

| Date | Transaction |
| February 18, 1998 | Lost Tara Williams to the Detroit Shock in the WNBA expansion draft. |
| April 29, 1998 | Drafted Maria Stepanova, Andrea Kuklová, Brandy Reed and Karen Wilkins in the 1998 WNBA Draft |
| May 29, 1998 | Waived Monique Ambers |
| May 30, 1998 | Waived Karen Wilkins |
| June 4, 1998 | Waived Tawona Alhaleem |
| June 10, 1998 | Waived Tia Jackson |
| July 6, 1998 | Traded Pauline Jordan to the Sacramento Monarchs in exchange for Tiffani Johnson |
| July 31, 1998 | Waived Mikiko Hagiwara |

## Schedule
### Regular season

1998 game log Total: 19–11 (Home: 13–3; Road: 6–8) :
June: 6–2 (Home: 4–1; Road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
June 11
@ Sacramento
W 73–70
Jennifer Gillom (20)
Brandy Reed (8)
Umeki Webb (8)
ARCO Arena
1–0
2
June 14
Los Angeles
W 70–60
Jennifer Gillom (20)
Jennifer Gillom (6)
Umeki Webb (4)
America West Arena
2–0
3
June 15
Washington
W 69–54
Jennifer Gillom (19)
Jennifer Gillom (11)
Michele Timms (4)
America West Arena
3–0
4
June 21
Charlotte
L 71–72
Bridget Pettis (20)
Michelle Brogan (9)
Gillom Webb (3)
America West Arena
3–1
5
June 24
Houston
W 69–66
Bridget Pettis (20)
Michelle Brogan (7)
Michele Timms (8)
America West Arena
4–1
6
June 26
Utah
W 96–63
Jennifer Gillom (19)
Marlies Askamp (8)
Umeki Webb (6)
America West Arena
5–1
7
June 28
@ Washington
W 86–69
Bridget Pettis (23)
Jennifer Gillom (8)
Kristi Harrower (7)
MCI Center
6–1
8
June 29
@ New York
L 68–71
Michelle Brogan (15)
Michelle Brogan (5)
Michele Timms (5)
Madison Square Garden
6–2 :
July: 6–7 (Home: 4–2; Road: 2–5)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
9
July 2
@ Cleveland
W 76–61
Jennifer Gillom (29)
Jennifer Gillom (8)
Michele Timms (5)
Gund Arena
7–2
10
July 4
@ Charlotte
L 66–68
Jennifer Gillom (21)
Bridget Pettis (7)
Michele Timms (9)
Charlotte Coliseum
7–3
11
July 8
@ Detroit
W 78–76
Jennifer Gillom (24)
Jennifer Gillom (10)
Michele Timms (8)
The Palace of Auburn Hills
8–3
12
July 10
Cleveland
W 76–60
Jennifer Gillom (28)
Marlies Askamp (11)
Michele Timms (8)
America West Arena
9–3
13
July 13
Los Angeles
W 72–62
Jennifer Gillom (27)
Jennifer Gillom (9)
Michele Timms (5)
America West Arena
10–3
14
July 15
Detroit
W 73–60
Jennifer Gillom (17)
Michelle Brogan (6)
Michele Timms (5)
America West Arena
11–3
15
July 18
New York
L 63–69
Michelle Brogan (14)
Jennifer Gillom (6)
Michele Timms (8)
America West Arena
11–4
16
July 20
Sacramento
W 88–67
Bridget Pettis (18)
Brogan Gillom Webb (6)
Michele Timms (9)
America West Arena
12–4
17
July 21
Houston
L 62–65
Jennifer Gillom (24)
Jennifer Gillom (11)
Michele Timms (6)
America West Arena
12–5
18
July 23
@ Los Angeles
L 68–70
Jennifer Gillom (27)
Jennifer Gillom (9)
Jennifer Gillom (4)
Great Western Forum
12–6
19
July 27
@ Utah
L 80–90
Jennifer Gillom (31)
Michelle Brogan (7)
Michele Timms (6)
Delta Center
12–7
20
July 28
@ Houston
L 62–72
Jennifer Gillom (23)
Jennifer Gillom (13)
Timms Webb (3)
Compaq Center
12–8
21
July 31
@ Los Angeles
L 56–71
Jennifer Gillom (23)
Jennifer Gillom (10)
Bridget Pettis (4)
Great Western Forum
12–9 :
August: 7–2 (Home: 5–0; Road: 2–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
22
August 4
Washington
W 88–59
Jennifer Gillom (21)
Marlies Askamp (8)
Harrower Timms (4)
America West Arena
13–9
23
August 6
@ Houston
L 64–75
Jennifer Gillom (19)
Brandy Reed (6)
Kuklová Timms Webb (3)
Compaq Center
13–10
24
August 8
Utah
W 68–62
Bridget Pettis (21)
Gillom Pettis (8)
Michele Timms (9)
America West Arena
14–10
25
August 10
Cleveland
W 82–80 (2OT)
Jennifer Gillom (38)
Jennifer Gillom (8)
Michele Timms (7)
America West Arena
15–10
26
August 11
@ New York
L 78–79 (OT)
Jennifer Gillom (21)
Jennifer Gillom (7)
Brogan Pettis Timms (4)
Madison Square Garden
15–11
27
August 14
Detroit
W 84–59
Gillom Pettis (23)
Bridget Pettis (7)
Michele Timms (7)
America West Arena
16–11
28
August 16
@ Monarchs
W 85–69
Jennifer Gillom (25)
Michelle Brogan (8)
Umeki Webb (5)
ARCO Arena
17–11
29
August 17
@ Utah
W 75–64
Jennifer Gillom (20)
Gillom Reed Webb (7)
Michele Timms (7)
Delta Center
18–11
30
August 19
Monarchs
W 71–62
Jennifer Gillom (18)
Jennifer Gillom (8)
Michele Timms (4)
America West Arena
19–11 :
1998 season schedule :

### Playoffs

1998 playoff game log :
Semifinal vs. Cleveland Rockers Won Series: 2–1
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
August 22
Cleveland
W 78–68
Jennifer Gillom (21)
Gillom Reed (5)
Umeki Webb (6)
America West Arena
1–0
2
August 24
@ Cleveland
L 66–67
Jennifer Gillom (27)
Jennifer Gillom (10)
Michele Timms (6)
Gund Arena
1–1
3
August 25
@ Cleveland
W 71–60
Bridget Pettis (27)
Bridget Pettis (11)
Michele Timms (8)
Gund Arena
2–1 :
Championship vs. Houston Comets Lost Series: 1–2
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
August 27
@ Phoenix
W 54–51
Jennifer Gillom (15)
Michelle Brogan (12)
Michele Timms (5)
America West Arena
1–0
2
August 29
Phoenix
L 69–74 (OT)
Michele Timms (21)
Jennifer Gillom (9)
Michelle Brogan (3)
Compaq Center
1–1
3
September 1
Phoenix
L 71–80
Michelle Brogan (24)
Jennifer Gillom (6)
Michele Timms (7)
Compaq Center
1–2 :
1998 playoff schedule :

### Season standings

| Western Conference | W | L | PCT | Conf. | GB |
| Houston Comets $^x$ | 27 | 3 | .900 | 15–1 | – |
| Phoenix Mercury $^x$ | 19 | 11 | .633 | 10–6 | 8.0 |
| Los Angeles Sparks $^o$ | 12 | 18 | .400 | 6–10 | 15.0 |
| Sacramento Monarchs $^o$ | 8 | 22 | .267 | 5–11 | 19.0 |
| Utah Starzz $^o$ | 8 | 22 | .267 | 4–12 | 19.0 |

## Statistics
### Regular Season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Jennifer Gillom | 30 | 30 | 32.1 | .465 | .378 | .703 | 7.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 20.9 |
| Michele Timms | 30 | 30 | 31.1 | .318 | .298 | .694 | 2.5 | 5.3 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 6.9 |
| Bridget Pettis | 30 | 28 | 28.3 | .377 | .285 | .865 | 3.4 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 11.3 |
| Umeki Webb | 30 | 30 | 28.2 | .363 | .286 | .661 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 5.3 |
| Michelle Brogan | 30 | 25 | 26.0 | .505 | .478 | .796 | 4.4 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 9.2 |
| Toni Foster | 16 | 5 | 13.6 | .467 | N/A | .767 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 4.9 |
| Marlies Askamp | 26 | 0 | 12.3 | .471 | N/A | .661 | 3.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 5.3 |
| Kristi Harrower | 30 | 0 | 11.8 | .365 | .344 | .750 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 2.3 |
| Andrea Kuklová | 29 | 2 | 11.7 | .400 | .143 | .556 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 3.3 |
| Brandy Reed | 24 | 0 | 10.6 | .526 | .250 | .710 | 3.3 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 5.2 |
| Maria Stepanova | 20 | 0 | 6.5 | .426 | N/A | .636 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 3.3 |
| Mikiko Hagiwara | 10 | 0 | 5.9 | .381 | .333 | .667 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.2 |
| Pauline Jordan | 6 | 0 | 5.0 | .625 | N/A | .714 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.5 |
$^‡$Waived/Released during the season $^†$Traded during the season $^≠$Acquired during the season