Bridgette Gordon

Bridgette Cyrene Gordon (born April 27, 1967) is the head women's basketball coach of Florida A&M University,^[1] and a retired player. She was a member of the United States women's national basketball team, that claimed the gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.

Bridgette Gordon

Florida A&M Rattlers
Position	Head coach
League	Southwestern Athletic Conference
Personal information
Born	April 27, 1967 (1967-04-27) (age 57) DeLand, Florida, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight	159 lb (72 kg)
Career information
High school	DeLand (DeLand, Florida)
College	Tennessee (1985–1989)
WNBA draft	1997: Initial allocation round
Selected by the Sacramento Monarchs
Playing career	1997–1998
Position	Forward
Coaching career	2004–present
Career history
As player:
1997–1998	Sacramento Monarchs
As coach:
2004–2006	Stetson (asst.)
2007–2010	Georgia State (asst.)
2010–2017	Wichita State (asst.)
2017–2019	Tennessee (asst.)
2019–2021	SMU (asst.)
2022–2023	Cincinnati (asst.)
2023	New Mexico State (asst.)
2023–present	Florida A&M
Career highlights and awards
2x NCAA champion (1987,1989) NCAA Tournament MOP (1989) Honda Sports Award (1989) 2x All-American – USBWA (1988, 1989) 2x Kodak All-American (1988, 1989) SEC Female Athlete of the Year (1989) SEC Player of the Year (1989) 2× SEC tournament MVP (1988, 1989) 2x First-team All-SEC (1988, 1989) 2x All-SEC (1986, 1987) SEC Freshman of the Year (1986)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
Medals Women's basketball Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1988 Seoul Team competition Pan American Games 1991 Havana Team competition

In 2007, Gordon was elected to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Knoxville, Tennessee.^[2]

USA Basketball

Gordon was selected to be a member of the team representing the US at the 1987 World University Games held in Zagreb, Yugoslavia. The USA team won four of the five contests. In the opening game against Poland, Gordon was the leading scorer for the US with 18 points. After winning their next game against Finland, the USA faced the host team Yugoslavia. The game went to overtime, but Yugoslavia prevailed, 93–89. The USA faced China in the next game. They won 84–83, but they needed to win by at least five points to remain in medal contention. They won the final game against Canada to secure fifth place.^[3]

Gordon continued on the USA national team when the team played at the 1988 Olympics, held in Seoul, South Korea. She averaged 8.8 points per game, including 20 points against Yugoslavia to help the team win all five games and earn the gold medal.^[4]

Gordon also played with the USA team at the 1991 Pan American Games. The team finished with a record of 4–2, but managed to win the bronze medal. The USA team lost a three-point game to Brazil, then responded with wins over Argentina and Cuba, earning a spot in the medal round. The next game was a rematch against Cuba, and this time the team from Cuba won a five-point game. The USA beat Canada easily to win the bronze. Gordon averaged 11.3 points per game.^[5]

WNBA career

Gordon was selected in initial player allocation of the 1997 WNBA draft by the Sacramento Monarchs on January 22, 1997. She would only play a total of 50 games in the WNBA, all 50 with the Monarchs. Her debut game was played on June 21, 1997, in a 73–61 win over the Utah Starzz where she recorded 12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.^[6] In her rookie season, Gordon played in all 28 of the Monarch's regular season games and started in all 28 of them while averaging 13.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists. The team finished with a 10–18 record and missed the playoffs.

In the 1998 season, Gordon started in the first 5 games of the season but then lost her starting spot to Latasha Byears and had her minutes per game drop from 35.0 to 11.5. Due to the drop in minutes, Gordon's stats across the board dropped down to 2.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists. The Monarchs had an even worse record than the previous year by finishing 8–22.

Gordon was waived by the Monarchs on May 3, 1999.^[7] She signed a contract with the New York Liberty but would be waived on May 24, 1999, before playing a game for them.^[8] After being waived by the Liberty, she would not play in the WNBA again.

Her final WNBA game was played on August 12, 1998, in a 71–81 loss to the Starzz where she recorded 2 points and 1 assist.^[9]

Career 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
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader

WNBA

Regular season

Source^[10]

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1997	Sacramento	28°	28°	35.0	.433	.275	.785	4.8	2.8	1.4	.3	3.0	13.0
1998	Sacramento	22	5	11.5	.391	.000	.563	1.3	.4	.4	.0	1.4	2.7
Career	2 years, 1 team	50	33	24.7	.426	.229	.756	3.3	1.7	.9	.2	2.3	8.5

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1987–88	Tennessee	33	-	-	54.1	75.0	70.2	6.8	2.4	2.3	0.5	-	20.8
1988–89	Tennessee	36	-	-	53.3	33.3	70.0	7.0	2.7	2.9	0.4	-	20.4
Career		69	-	-	53.7	50.0	70.1	6.9	2.6	2.6	0.5	-	20.6
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.[11]

Awards and honors

• 1989—Winner of the Honda Sports Award for basketball^[12][13]
• 2x FIBA Women's European Champions Cup (current EuroLeague) with Italian club Pool Comense (1993–94, 1994–95)

References

1. "Florida A&M Athletics Named Bridgette Gordon as Women's Basketball Head Coach". Florida A&M. July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
2. "WBHOF Inductees". WBHOF. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
3. "Fourteenth World University Games -- 1993". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
4. "Games of the XXIVth Olympiad -- 1988". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
5. "Eleventh Pan American Games -- 1991". USA Basketball. February 20, 2014. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
6. "Sacramento Monarchs at Utah Starzz, June 21, 1997". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
7. "1999 Sacramento Monarchs Transactions". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
8. "PLUS: W.N.B.A. -- LIBERTY; 3 Forwards Waived". The New York Times. May 25, 1999. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
9. "Sacramento Monarchs at Utah Starzz, August 12, 1998". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
10. "Bridgette Gordon WNBA Statistics". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
11. "Bridgette Gordon College Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
12. "PAST HONDA SPORTS AWARD WINNERS FOR BASKETBALL". THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
13. "Sophia Young a Honda Award Finalist". Baylor University Athletics. April 10, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2020.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from WNBA.com  and Basketball Reference 
• Bridgette Cyrene Gordon at FIBA (archive)
• Bridgette C. Gordon at Olympics.com
• Bridgette Gordon at Olympedia (archive)