2002 New York Liberty season

The 2002 WNBA season was the sixth season for the New York Liberty. The Liberty franchise reached their 4th berth to the WNBA Finals, but lost in a sweep to the Los Angeles Sparks. This was the last season that New York qualified for the WNBA Finals, before their appearance in 2023.

2002 New York Liberty season
Coach	Richie Adubato
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Attendance	14,670 per game
Results
Record	18–14 (.563)
Place	1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Lost WNBA Finals (2-0) to Los Angeles Sparks
Media
Television	WPIX (WB 11) MSG Network
← 2001 season 2003 season →

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2002 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
2	26	Linda Fröhlich	West Germany	UNLV
3	46	Tracy Gahan	United States	Iowa State
4	62	Deedee Warley	United States	Maryland

Transactions

Date	Transaction
April 3, 2002	Traded Rebecca Lobo to the Houston Comets in exchange for a 2002 2nd Round Pick[1]
April 18, 2002	Traded a 2002 1st Round Pick to the Utah Starzz in exchange for Korie Hlede[1]
April 19, 2002	Drafted Linda Fröhlich, Tracy Gahan, and Deedee Warley in the 2002 WNBA Draft[1]
April 22, 2002	Traded Andrea Nagy to the Sacramento Monarchs in exchange for a 2003 2nd Round Pick[1]
April 23, 2002	Traded Grace Daley to the Houston Comets in exchange for a 2003 2nd Round Pick[1]
May 7, 2002	Waived Bethany Donaphin and Deedee Warley[1]
May 8, 2002	Waived Shondra Johnson[1]
May 21, 2002	Waived Mactabene Amachree and Tracy Gahan[1]
July 2, 2002	Waived Marina Ferragut[1]

Roster

2002 New York Liberty roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs C 42 Cooper, Camille 6' 4" (1.93m) 1979-02-05 Purdue 1 F/C 31 Fröhlich, Linda 6' 2" (1.88m) 185 lb (84kg) 1979-06-23 UNLV R G 25 Hammon, Becky 5' 6" (1.68m) 136 lb (62kg) 1977-03-11 Colorado State 3 G 7 Hlede, Korie 5' 9" (1.75m) 155 lb (70kg) 1975-03-29 Duquesne 4 G/F 55 Johnson, Vickie 5' 9" (1.75m) 150 lb (68kg) 1972-04-15 Louisiana Tech 5 C 50 Ngoyisa, Bernadette 6' 4" (1.93m) 195 lb (88kg) 1982-08-26 R F/C 24 Phillips, Tari 6' 2" (1.88m) 200 lb (91kg) 1970-03-06 Central Florida 3 F 3 Robinson, Crystal 5' 11" (1.8m) 155 lb (70kg) 1974-01-22 SE Oklahoma State 3 G 11 Weatherspoon, Teresa 5' 8" (1.73m) 161 lb (73kg) 1965-12-08 Louisiana Tech 5 F 44 Whitmore, Tamika 6' 2" (1.88m) 215 lb (98kg) 1977-06-05 Memphis 3 F 23 Wicks, Sue 6' 3" (1.91m) 174 lb (79kg) 1966-11-26 Rutgers 5	Head coach Richie Adubato (William Paterson) Assistant coaches Lisa White Jeff House Pat Coyle Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Schedule

Regular season

2002 game log Total: 18–14 (Home: 10–6; Road: 8–8)
May: 2–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 2–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 25 @ Los Angeles L 64–72 Vickie Johnson (19) Vickie Johnson (6) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) Staples Center 0–1 2 May 28 @ Portland W 84–62 Becky Hammon (22) Tari Phillips (9) Teresa Weatherspoon (11) Rose Garden 1–1 3 May 30 @ Seattle W 78–61 Crystal Robinson (17) Johnson Whitmore (7) Teresa Weatherspoon (4) KeyArena 2–1
June : 6–7 (Home: 4–3; Road: 2–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 4 June 2 Miami W 58–52 Crystal Robinson (16) Phillips Whitmore (5) Teresa Weatherspoon (3) Madison Square Garden 3–1 5 June 5 Detroit W 60–59 Vickie Johnson (21) Tari Phillips (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (4) Madison Square Garden 4–1 6 June 8 @ Indiana L 62–71 Tamika Whitmore (18) Phillips Wicks (6) Teresa Weatherspoon (6) Conseco Fieldhouse 4–2 7 June 9 @ Detroit W 70–63 Crystal Robinson (19) Phillips Wicks (6) Teresa Weatherspoon (4) The Palace of Auburn Hills 5–2 8 June 11 @ Utah W 71–68 Tari Phillips (22) Tari Phillips (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) Delta Center 6–2 9 June 13 @ Sacramento L 77–78 (2OT) Tamika Whitmore (21) Phillips Robinson (7) Teresa Weatherspoon (12) ARCO Arena 6–3 10 June 16 Charlotte W 54–53 Vickie Johnson (15) Tari Phillips (7) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) Madison Square Garden 7–3 11 June 18 Orlando L 62–71 Crystal Robinson (19) Tari Phillips (7) Teresa Weatherspoon (6) Madison Square Garden 7–4 12 June 21 @ Cleveland L 69–80 Vickie Johnson (19) Tari Phillips (5) Teresa Weatherspoon (9) Gund Arena 7–5 13 June 23 @ Orlando L 65–77 Tari Phillips (16) Phillips Whitmore (8) Johnson Weatherspoon (5) TD Waterhouse Centre 7–6 14 June 25 Indiana W 74–55 Crystal Robinson (24) Tari Phillips (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (10) Madison Square Garden 8–6 15 June 28 Cleveland L 58–67 Tari Phillips (18) Tari Phillips (9) Robinson Weatherspoon (4) Madison Square Garden 8–7 16 June 30 Portland L 44–54 Crystal Robinson (17) Tari Phillips (7) Teresa Weatherspoon (6) Madison Square Garden 8–8
July : 7–2 (Home: 5–0; Road: 2–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 17 July 2 Seattle W 74–63 Tari Phillips (19) Hammon Phillips Weathersppon Wicks (3) Johnson Weathersppon (6) Madison Square Garden 9–8 18 July 8 Phoenix W 77–71 Tamika Whitmore (28) Phillips Whitmore (5) Teresa Weatherspoon (9) Madison Square Garden 10–8 19 July 10 @ Detroit L 63–66 Crystal Robinson (17) Tari Phillips (7) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) The Palace of Auburn Hills 10–9 20 July 13 @ Washington W 67–53 Vickie Johnson (19) Tari Phillips (12) Vickie Johnson (5) MCI Center 11–9 21 July 18 Los Angeles W 72–59 Tamika Whitmore (25) Tari Phillips (9) Teresa Weatherspoon (6) Target Center 12–9 22 July 19 @ Indiana W 70–62 Becky Hammon (15) Tari Phillips (5) Vickie Johnson (4) Conseco Fieldhouse 13–9 23 July 22 Cleveland W 73–52 Tari Phillips (15) Hammon Phillips (5) Hammon Johnson (3) Madison Square Garden 14–9 24 July 23 @ Miami L 46–54 Crystal Robinson (12) Tamika Whitmore (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (3) American Airlines Arena 14–10 25 July 28 Houston W 62–56 Tamika Whitmore (15) Phillips Whitmore (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (4) Madison Square Garden 15–10
August : 3–4 (Home: 1–3; Road: 2–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 26 August 2 Miami W 66–54 Vickie Johnson (20) Tari Phillips (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (10) Madison Square Garden 16–10 27 August 4 @ Charlotte W 71–58 Vickie Johnson (20) Sue Wicks (9) Teresa Weatherspoon (8) Charlotte Coliseum 17–10 28 August 6 Minnesota L 49–52 Tari Phillips (17) Tari Phillips (11) Vickie Johnson (6) Madison Square Garden 17–11 29 August 8 Washington L 54–65 Tari Phillips (22) Tari Phillips (11) Hammon Weatherspoon (4) Madison Square Garden 17–12 30 August 9 @ Washington W 74–66 Becky Hammon (22) Weatherspoon Whitmore (6) Teresa Weatherspoon (8) MCI Center 18–12 31 August 11 Charlotte L 58–71 Crystal Robinson (16) Tamika Whitmore (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) Madison Square Garden 18–13 32 August 13 @ Orlando L 63–70 Phillips Whitmore (20) Tari Phillips (10) Hammon Robinson (3) TD Waterhouse Centre 18–14
2002 season schedule

Playoffs

2002 playoff game log
First round vs. Indiana Fever Won Series: 2–1 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 August 16 @ Indiana L 55–73 Tamika Whitmore (18) Becky Hammon (5) Teresa Weatherspoon (4) Conseco Fieldhouse 0–1 2 August 18 Indiana W 84–65 Tamika Whitmore (24) Tamika Whitmore (6) Teresa Weatherspoon (9) Madison Square Garden 1–1 3 August 20 Indiana W 75–60 Vickie Johnson (19) Vickie Johnson (7) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) Madison Square Garden 2–1
Conference Finals vs. Washington Mystics Won Series: 2–1 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 August 22 @ Washington L 74–79 Tari Phillips (21) Phillips Robinson Weatherspoon Whitmore (5) Teresa Weatherspoon (9) MCI Center 0–1 2 August 24 Washington W 96–79 Phillips Whitmore (23) Tari Phillips (6) Teresa Weatherspoon (12) Madison Square Garden 1–1 3 August 25 Washington W 64–57 Vickie Johnson (19) Tari Phillips (11) Teresa Weatherspoon (4) Madison Square Garden 2–1
WNBA Finals vs. Los Angeles Sparks Lost Series: 0–2 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 August 29 Los Angeles L 63–71 Becky Hammon (18) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) Johnson Phillips Weatherspoon (3) Madison Square Garden 0–1 2 August 31 @ Los Angeles L 66–69 Phillips Whitmore (17) Tari Phillips (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) Staples Center 0–2
2002 playoff schedule

Season standings

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
New York Liberty x	18	14	.563	11–10	–
Charlotte Sting x	18	14	.563	12–9	–
Washington Mystics x	17	15	.531	12–9	1.0
Indiana Fever x	16	16	.500	12–9	2.0
Orlando Miracle o	16	16	.500	13–8	2.0
Miami Sol o	15	17	.469	11–10	3.0
Cleveland Rockers o	10	22	.312	7–14	8.0
Detroit Shock o	9	23	.281	6–15	9.0

Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Regular Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Crystal Robinson	32	32	33.4	.417	.370	.819	2.8	2.5	1.5	0.4	11.8
Vickie Johnson	31	31	33.2	.456	.421	.803	3.5	2.8	0.9	0.1	11.6
Tari Phillips	32	31	31.5	.491	.000	.675	7.0	1.3	1.8	0.4	14.1
Tamika Whitmore	32	32	30.5	.477	.000	.733	4.4	0.7	0.8	1.3	12.7
Teresa Weatherspoon	32	32	29.8	.342	.100	.519	2.7	5.7	1.3	0.1	3.4
Becky Hammon	32	1	20.6	.442	.386	.679	2.1	1.7	0.8	0.0	8.0
Sue Wicks	30	0	14.3	.343	.000	.667	3.4	0.5	0.7	0.5	2.2
Korie Hlede	16	0	8.1	.423	.000	.444	1.0	0.8	0.4	0.1	1.6
Camille Cooper	23	1	5.2	.393	N/A	.625	0.7	0.1	0.2	0.2	1.2
Linda Fröhlich	16	0	4.2	.100	.000	1.000	0.8	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.4
Bernadette Ngoyisa	7	0	1.7	.600	N/A	N/A	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.9

^‡Waived/Released during the season
^†Traded during the season
^≠Acquired during the season