1998 Cleveland Rockers season

1998 Cleveland Rockers season
Coach	Linda Hill-MacDonald
Arena	Gund Arena
Attendance	10,350 per game
Results
Record	20–10 (.667)
Place	1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Lost WNBA Semifinals (2-1) to Phoenix Mercury
Team Leaders
Points	Isabelle Fijalkowski (13.7)
Rebounds	Isabelle Fijalkowski (6.9)
Assists	Suzie McConnell Serio (6.4)
← 1997 season 1999 season →

The 1998 WNBA season was the 2nd for the Cleveland Rockers. The Rockers topped the Eastern Conference, but they were unable to reach the WNBA Finals, losing in the WNBA semifinals to the Phoenix Mercury.

Transactions

Detroit Shock expansion draft

The following player was selected in the Detroit Shock expansion draft from the Cleveland Rockers:

Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
Lynette Woodard	United States	Kansas

WNBA draft

See also: 1998 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	6	Cindy Blodgett	United States	Maine
2	16	Suzie McConnell Serio	United States	Penn State
3	26	Tanja Kostić	Sweden	Oregon State
4	36	Tammye Jenkins	United States	Georgia

Transactions

Date	Transaction
February 18, 1998	Lost Lynette Woodard to the Detroit Shock in the WNBA expansion draft
April 29, 1998	Drafted Cindy Blodgett, Suzie McConnell Serio, Tanja Kostić and Tammye Jenkins in the 1998 WNBA Draft

Roster

1998 Cleveland Rockers roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G 41 Bevilaqua, Tully 5' 7" (1.7m) 145 lb (66kg) 1972-07-19 R G 5 Blodgett, Cindy 5' 9" (1.75m) 130 lb (59kg) 1975-12-23 Maine R F 8 Braxton, Janice 6' 3" (1.91m) 178 lb (81kg) 1962-06-07 Louisiana Tech 1 F 34 Brown, Rushia 6' 2" (1.88m) 175 lb (79kg) 1972-05-05 Furman 1 G 44 Edwards, Michelle 5' 9" (1.75m) 150 lb (68kg) 1966-03-06 Iowa 1 F/C 13 Fijalkowski, Isabelle 6' 5" (1.96m) 200 lb (91kg) 1972-05-23 Colorado 1 G 31 Johnson, Adrienne 5' 10" (1.78m) 154 lb (70kg) 1974-02-05 Ohio State 1 G 25 Jones, Merlakia 5' 10" (1.78m) 147 lb (67kg) 1973-06-21 Florida 1 F 10 Kostić, Tanja 6' 2" (1.88m) 163 lb (74kg) 1972-11-10 Oregon State R G 4 McConnell-Serio, Suzie 1966-07-29 Penn State R F 6 Němcová, Eva 6' 3" (1.91m) 178 lb (81kg) 1972-12-03 1 F/C 51 Scott, Raegan 6' 3" (1.91m) 169 lb (77kg) 1975-08-12 Colorado 1	Head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald (West Chester) Assistant coaches Mike Wilhelm Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Schedule

Regular season

1998 game log Total: 20–10 (Home: 11–4; Road: 9–6)
June: 4–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 June 11 New York W 78–71 Janice Braxton (17) Janice Braxton (6) Suzie McConnell-Serio (10) Gund Arena 1–0 2 June 15 @ Detroit W 96–85 Janice Braxton (18) Isabelle Fijalkowski (6) Suzie McConnell-Serio (8) The Palace of Auburn Hills 2–0 3 June 18 @ Houston L 69–87 Janice Braxton (13) Isabelle Fijalkowski (9) Suzie McConnell-Serio (7) Compaq Center 2–1 4 June 20 Detroit W 68–66 Janice Braxton (17) Janice Braxton (8) Fijalkowski McConnell-Serio (5) Gund Arena 3–1 5 June 22 Utah W 88–72 Janice Braxton (17) Isabelle Fijalkowski (8) Bevilaqua Blodgett (6) Gund Arena 4–1 6 June 23 @ New York L 57–59 Rushia Brown (12) Adrienne Johnson (8) Tully Bevilaqua (4) Madison Square Garden 4–2 7 June 27 Detroit L 73–84 Isabelle Fijalkowski (25) Janice Braxton (13) Eva Němcová (5) Gund Arena 4–3
July : 8–6 (Home: 6–2; Road: 2–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 8 July 1 @ Washington W 92–80 Isabelle Fijalkowski (19) Isabelle Fijalkowski (8) Suzie McConnell-Serio (4) MCI Center 5–3 9 July 2 Phoenix L 61–76 Isabelle Fijalkowski (16) Janice Braxton (8) Suzie McConnell-Serio (12) Gund Arena 5–4 10 July 6 Houston L 64–78 Braxton Jones (13) Isabelle Fijalkowski (9) Suzie McConnell-Serio (4) Gund Arena 5–5 11 July 8 Washington W 77–65 Eva Němcová (15) Eva Němcová (7) Suzie McConnell-Serio (6) Gund Arena 6–5 12 July 10 @ Phoenix L 60–76 Janice Braxton (13) Janice Braxton (8) Suzie McConnell-Serio (5) America West Arena 6–6 13 July 12 @ Los Angeles L 66–87 Janice Braxton (13) Janice Braxton (7) Suzie McConnell-Serio (10) Great Western Forum 6–7 14 July 14 @ Sacramento W 61–58 Eva Němcová (15) Braxton Fijalkowski (5) Suzie McConnell-Serio (9) ARCO Arena 7–7 15 July 16 New York W 60–51 Isabelle Fijalkowski (15) Michelle Edwards (7) Suzie McConnell-Serio (7) Gund Arena 8–7 16 July 18 @ Detroit L 57–72 Michelle Edwards (13) Isabelle Fijalkowski (7) Braxton Fijalkowski Jones Němcová McConnell-Serio (1) The Palace of Auburn Hills 8–8 17 July 19 Charlotte W 85–69 Merlakia Jones (19) Janice Braxton (9) Suzie McConnell-Serio (8) Gund Arena 9–8 18 July 25 Utah W 69–59 Isabelle Fijalkowski (24) Isabelle Fijalkowski (8) Edwards McConnell-Serio (6) Gund Arena 10–8 19 July 27 Los Angeles W 83–67 Eva Němcová (15) Isabelle Fijalkowski (9) Eva Němcová (9) Gund Arena 11–8 20 July 29 Sacramento W 75–67 Isabelle Fijalkowski (17) Isabelle Fijalkowski (8) Michelle Edwards (7) Gund Arena 12–8 21 July 30 @ Charlotte L 64–79 Michelle Edwards (24) Braxton Fijalkowski (7) Isabelle Fijalkowski (5) Charlotte Coliseum 12–9
August : 8–1 (Home: 2–1; Road: 6–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 22 August 1 @ Houston W 74–71 (OT) Isabelle Fijalkowski (19) Merlakia Jones (10) Michelle Edwards (7) Compaq Center 13–9 23 August 4 @ Sacramento W 72–60 Isabelle Fijalkowski (17) Isabelle Fijalkowski (11) Suzie McConnell-Serio (7) ARCO Arena 14–9 24 August 6 @ Utah W 79–69 Isabelle Fijalkowski (22) Braxton Fijalkowski (7) Suzie McConnell-Serio (5) Delta Center 15–9 25 August 8 Charlotte W 65–58 Eva Němcová (18) Isabelle Fijalkowski (6) Braxton McConnell-Serio (4) Gund Arena 16–9 26 August 10 Phoenix L 80–82 (2OT) Eva Němcová (19) Isabelle Fijalkowski (12) Suzie McConnell-Serio (8) Gund Arena 16–10 27 August 12 @ Washington W 75–55 Braxton Fijalkowski (13) Janice Braxton (6) McConnell-Serio Němcová (3) MCI Center 17–10 28 August 14 @ Charlotte W 85–72 Suzie McConnell-Serio (18) Brown Fijalkowski Němcová (5) Suzie McConnell-Serio (7) Charlotte Coliseum 18–10 29 August 15 Washington W 85–72 Suzie McConnell-Serio (19) Isabelle Fijalkowski (8) McConnell-Serio Němcová (7) Gund Arena 19–10 30 August 17 @ New York W 70–64 Isabelle Fijalkowski (18) Isabelle Fijalkowski (9) Suzie McConnell-Serio (6) Madison Square Garden 20–10
1998 season schedule

Playoffs

1998 playoff game log
Semifinal vs. Phoenix Mercury Lost Series: 1–2 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 August 22 @ Phoenix L 68–78 Isabelle Fijalkowski (20) Isabelle Fijalkowski (9) Edwards Němcová (4) America West Arena 0–1 2 August 24 Phoenix W 67–66 Michelle Edwards (18) Janice Braxton (10) Suzie McConnell-Serio (9) Gund Arena 1–1 3 August 25 Phoenix L 60–71 Isabelle Fijalkowski (17) Isabelle Fijalkowski (11) Eva Němcová (5) Gund Arena 1–2
1998 playoff schedule

Season standings

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
Cleveland Rockers x	20	10	.667	12–4	–
Charlotte Sting x	18	12	.600	11–5	2.0
New York Liberty o	18	12	.600	8–8	2.0
Detroit Shock o	17	13	.567	8–8	3.0
Washington Mystics o	3	27	.100	1–15	17.0

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
Eva Němcová	30	30	32.4	.466	.452	.893	3.7	2.2	1.1	0.7	11.9
Suzie McConnell-Serio	28	28	31.5	.455	.408	.729	2.2	6.4	1.8	0.2	8.6
Isabelle Fijalkowski	28	23	28.8	.547	.400	.821	6.9	2.1	0.6	1.0	13.7
Janice Braxton	30	30	28.0	.495	.333	.755	5.6	2.5	1.7	0.5	9.8
Michelle Edwards	23	9	23.2	.417	.324	.620	2.3	2.8	1.0	0.0	7.7
Merlakia Jones	30	21	22.8	.464	.350	.753	3.2	1.3	1.1	0.1	9.5
Rushia Brown	30	7	17.4	.460	.000	.776	3.1	0.9	1.1	0.5	6.5
Tully Bevilagua	11	2	11.5	.571	.333	.667	0.9	2.1	1.1	0.2	1.9
Adrienne Johnson	29	0	11.4	.457	.424	.722	1.7	0.5	0.2	0.1	4.6
Cindy Blodgett	22	0	8.4	.288	.270	.625	0.6	0.8	0.4	0.0	2.9
Raegan Scott	22	0	7.6	.368	.000	.833	1.3	0.3	0.1	0.2	1.7
Tanja Kostić	5	0	6.0	.667	N/A	.500	0.4	0.4	0.0	0.0	1.0

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

Awards and honors

• Suzie McConnell Serio, WNBA Newcomer of the Year Award
• Isabelle Fijalkowski, WNBA Peak Performer
• Suzie McConnell Serio, WNBA Sportsmanship Award

External links

• Rockers on Basketball Reference