2000 New York Liberty season

The 2000 WNBA season was the fourth season for the New York Liberty. The team reached the WNBA Finals for the third time, but they were swept by the Houston Comets.

2000 New York Liberty season
Coach	Richie Adubato
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Attendance	14,498 per game
Results
Record	20–12 (.625)
Place	1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Lost WNBA Finals (2-0) to Houston Comets
← 1999 season 2001 season →

Offseason

Expansion draft

The team lost Sophia Witherspoon and Ciquese Washington to the Seattle Storm and the Portland Fire, respectively.

WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/School/Team
1	13	Olga Firsova (C)	Ukraine	Kansas State
2	29	Desiree Francis (F)	United States	Iowa State
3	45	Jessica Bibby (G)	Australia	Dandenong Rangers (WNBL)
4	61	Natalie Porter (F)	Australia	Australia

Trades

Date	Trade
December 15, 1999	To New York Liberty	To Portland Fire
	for Portland selecting Sophia Witherspoon and Coquese Washington in the 2000 WNBA Expansion Draft	Michele Van Gorp
May 28, 2000	To New York Liberty	To Portland Fire
	Tari Phillips	Carolyn Jones

Regular season

Season standings

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
New York Liberty ^x	20	12	.625	14–7	–
Cleveland Rockers ^x	17	15	.531	13–8	3.0
Orlando Miracle ^x	16	16	.500	13–8	4.0
Washington Mystics ^x	14	18	.438	13–8	6.0
Detroit Shock ^o	14	18	.438	10–11	6.0
Miami Sol ^o	13	19	.406	9–12	7.0
Indiana Fever ^o	9	23	.281	7–14	11.0
Charlotte Sting ^o	8	24	.250	5–16	12.0

Season schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Record
May 29	@ Houston	68-84	Loss	0-1
May 31	@ Phoenix	48-51	Loss	0-2
June 3	Utah	87-76	Win	1-2
June 4	@ Washington	67-79	Loss	1-3
June 7	@ Detroit	73-69	Win	2-3
June 9	Sacramento	56-77	Loss	2-4
June 10	@ Indiana	70-62	Win	3-4
June 13	Washington	56-57	Loss	3-5
June 18	Miami	58-52	Win	4-5
June 21	Detroit	63-67	Loss	4-6
June 23	@ Indiana	69-60	Win	5-6
June 25	Los Angeles	67-72	Loss	5-7
June 28	Phoenix	82-69	Win	6-7
June 30	Indiana	72-70	Win	7-7
July 1	@ Orlando	57-69	Loss	7-8
July 3	@ Cleveland	65-66	Loss	7-9
July 5	Portland	62-45	Win	8-9
July 7	@ Minnesota	76-70	Win	9-9
July 8	Miami	63-51	Win	10-9
July 12	Charlotte	84-70	Win	11-9
July 14	@ Orlando	55-51	Win	12-9
July 19	@ Seattle	78-55	Win	13-9
July 20	@ Los Angeles	66-82	Loss	13-10
July 23	Houston	69-64	Win	14-10
July 24	@ Washington	78-64	Win	15-10
July 28	@ Charlotte	66-56	Win	16-10
July 29	Cleveland	81-67	Win	17-10
July 31	Charlotte	81-56	Win	18-10
August 4	Orlando	70-57	Win	19-10
August 6	@ Miami	41-57	Loss	19-11
August 8	Cleveland	57-44	Win	20-11
August 9	@ Detroit	63-66	Loss	20-12

Playoffs

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Record
Eastern Conference Semifinals
1	August 12	@ Washington	72-63	Win	1-0
2	August 14	Washington	78-57	Win	2-0
Eastern Conference Finals
1	August 17	@ Cleveland	43-56	Loss	2-1
2	August 20	Cleveland	51-45	Win	3-1
3	August 21	Cleveland	81-67	Win	4-1
WNBA Finals
1	August 24	Houston	52-59	Loss	4-2
2	August 26	@ Houston	73-79	Loss	4-3

Player stats

Player	GP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS
Tari Phillips	31	247	28	59	21	427
Vickie Johnson	31	137	77	22	5	380
Becky Hammon	32	64	58	29	1	351
Tamika Whitmore	32	105	20	17	17	277
Crystal Robinson	27	68	48	23	10	238
Teresa Weatherspoon	32	109	205	65	5	205
Sue Wicks	32	149	21	26	39	156
Marina Ferragut	23	17	4	0	2	50
Shea Mahoney	15	30	4	2	1	27
Jessica Bibby	17	5	11	3	0	19
Olga Firsova	9	4	1	0	1	12
Desiree Francis	1	0	0	0	0	0

^[1]

References

1. "2000 New York Liberty Stats".