# 2003 Detroit Shock season

The 2003 WNBA season was the sixth for the Detroit Shock. The Shock won the WNBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. This season was better known as, "From Worst To First".

## Offseason
### Dispersal Draft

| Pick | Player | Nationality | Team | Previous Team |
| 1 | Ruth Riley (C) | United States | Detroit Shock | (from Duke) |

### WNBA draft

Cheryl Ford (daughter of NBA great Karl Malone) helped the Detroit Shock win a WNBA Championship in her first season.
| Pick | Player |
| 3rd | Cheryl Ford |
| 5th | Kara Lawson |
| 28th | Syreeta Bromfield |

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| Detroit Shock $^x$ | 25 | 9 | .735 | – | 13–4 | 12–5 | 18–6 |
| Charlotte Sting $^x$ | 18 | 16 | .529 | 7.0 | 13–4 | 5–12 | 12–12 |
| Connecticut Sun $^x$ | 18 | 16 | .529 | 7.0 | 10–7 | 8–9 | 11–13 |
| Cleveland Rockers $^x$ | 17 | 17 | .500 | 8.0 | 11–6 | 6–11 | 13–11 |
| Indiana Fever $^o$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 9.0 | 11–6 | 5–12 | 12–12 |
| New York Liberty $^o$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 9.0 | 11–6 | 5–12 | 11–13 |
| Washington Mystics $^o$ | 9 | 25 | .265 | 16.0 | 3–14 | 6–11 | 7–17 |

### Season Schedule

| Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Record |
| May 31 | Charlotte | 67-70 | Loss | 0-1 |
| June 5 | Connecticut | 103-89 | Win | 1-1 |
| June 7 | @ San Antonio | 74-55 | Win | 2-1 |
| June 14 | @ Washington | 93-56 | Win | 3-1 |
| June 17 | Los Angeles | 87-78 (OT) | Win | 4-1 |
| June 20 | New York | 88-83 | Win | 5-1 |
| June 22 | @ Connecticut | 82-73 (OT) | Win | 6-1 |
| June 24 | Indiana | 68-60 | Win | 7-1 |
| June 27 | @ New York | 75-69 | Win | 8-1 |
| June 28 | Phoenix | 65-68 | Loss | 8-2 |
| July 1 | San Antonio | 99-88 | Win | 9-2 |
| July 3 | Charlotte | 79-92 | Loss | 9-3 |
| July 6 | @ Indiana | 54-85 | Loss | 9-4 |
| July 8 | Connecticut | 66-50 | Win | 10-4 |
| July 8 | @ Charlotte | 58-65 | Loss | 10-5 |
| July 16 | @ Indiana | 70-68 | Win | 11-5 |
| July 18 | Seattle | 74-61 | Win | 12-5 |
| July 19 | @ Cleveland | 58-57 | Win | 13-5 |
| July 22 | Cleveland | 74-71 | Win | 14-5 |
| July 24 | @ Charlotte | 61-67 | Loss | 14-6 |
| July 27 | Washington | 81-71 | Win | 15-6 |
| July 29 | @ Cleveland | 77-65 | Win | 16-6 |
| Aug 1 | @ New York | 62-60 | Win | 17-6 |
| Aug 2 | Indiana | 78-58 | Win | 18-6 |
| Aug 5 | @ Connecticut | 78-61 | Win | 19-6 |
| Aug 6 | @ Washington | 81-92 | Loss | 19-7 |
| Aug 8 | Houston | 56-66 | Loss | 19-8 |
| Aug 10 | New York | 90-87 (OT) | Win | 20-8 |
| Aug 13 | @ Phoenix | 78-76 | Win | 21-8 |
| Aug 15 | @ Sacramento | 63-75 | Loss | 21-9 |
| Aug 17 | @ Seattle | 95-86 | Win | 22-9 |
| Aug 21 | Cleveland | 71-56 | Win | 23-9 |
| Aug 23 | @ Minnesota | 86-77 (OT) | Win | 24-9 |
| Aug 25 | Washington | 68-60 | Win | 25-9 |

## Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; FG = Field Goals; MIN= Minutes; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points
| Player | GP | MIN | FG | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
| Swin Cash | 33 | 1097 | 195 | 193 | 119 | 43 | 23 | 548 |
| Deanna Nolan | | | | | | | | 396 |
| Cheryl Ford | | | | | | | | 344 |
| Ruth Riley | | | | | | | | 327 |
| Kedra Holland-Corn | | | | | | | | 312 |
| Elaine Powell | | | | | | | | 296 |
| Barbara Farris | | | | | | | | 127 |
| Sheila Lambert | | | | | | | | 87 |
| Ayana Walker | | | | | | | | 56 |
| Tamara Moore | | | | | | | | 21 |
| Astou Ndiaye-Diatta | | | | | | | | 20 |
| Stacey Thomas | | | | | | | | 15 |
| Petra Ujhelyi | 14 | 68 | 2 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Record |
| Eastern Conference Semi | August 29 | @ Cleveland | 76-74 | Win | 1-0 |
| | August 31 | vs. Cleveland | 59-66 | Loss | 1-1 |
| | September 2 | vs. Cleveland | 76-74 | Win | 2-1 |
| Eastern Conference Final | September 5 | @ Connecticut | 73-63 | Win | 1-0 (3-1) |
| | September 7 | vs. Connecticut | 79-73 | Win | 2-0 (4-1) |
| WNBA Finals | September 12 | @ Los Angeles | 63-75 | Loss | 0-1 (4-2) |
| | September 14 | Los Angeles | 62-61 | Win | 1-1 (5-2) |
| | September 16 | vs. Los Angeles | 83-78 | Win | 2-1 (6-2) |

## Awards and honors

* Ruth Riley, WNBA Finals MVP Award
* Cheryl Ford, WNBA Rookie of the Year Award
* Bill Laimbeer, WNBA Coach of the Year Award