1998 Washington Mystics season

WNBA team season

1998 Washington Mystics season

Coach| Jim Lewis (fired Jul. 24, 2–16 record)
Cathy Parson (interim, 1–11 record)
Arena| MCI Center
Attendance| 15,910 per game
Results
Record| 3-27 (.100)
Place| 5th (Eastern)
Playoff finish| Did not qualify
Team Leaders
Points| Nikki McCray (17.7)
Rebounds| Alessandra Santos de Oliveira (8.1)
Assists| Nikki McCray (3.1)

1999 season →

The 1998 WNBA season was the first for the Washington Mystics.

## Transactions

[edit]

### WNBA allocation draft

[edit]

Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country

|
|

Alessandra Santos de Oliveira |  Brazil | Comense (Italy)
Nikki McCray |  United States | Columbus Quest

### WNBA expansion draft

[edit]

Player | Nationality | Former WNBA Team

|
|

Tammy Jackson |  United States | Houston Comets
Deborah Carter |  United States | Utah Starzz
Penny Moore |  United States | Charlotte Sting
Heidi Burge |  United States | Los Angeles Sparks

### WNBA draft

[edit]

See also: 1998 WNBA draft

Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country

|
|
|
|

1  | 3  | Murriel Page |  United States | Florida
2  | 13  | Rita Williams |  United States | UConn
3  | 23  | Angela Hamblin |  United States | Iowa
4  | 33  | Angela Jackson |  United States | Texas

### Transactions

[edit]

Date | Transaction

|

December 29, 1997  | Hired Jim Lewis as Head Coach[1]
January 27, 1998  | Drafted Alessandra Santos de Oliveira and Nikki McCray in the 1998 WNBA Allocation Draft[1]
February 18, 1998  | Drafted Tammy Jackson, Deborah Carter, Penny Moore and Heidi Burge in the 1998 WNBA expansion draft[1]
April 29, 1998  | Drafted Murriel Page, Rita Williams, Angela Hamblin and Angela Jackson in the 1998 WNBA Draft[1]
June 23, 1998  | Waived Tammy Jackson[1]
July 24, 1998  | Fired Jim Lewis as Head Coach[1]
Hired Cathy Parsons as Interim Head Coach[1]
July 31, 1998  | Waived Angela Jackson and Leila Sobral[1]
Signed Leslie Johnson and Margo Graham[1]

## Roster

[edit]

1998 Washington Mystics roster

Players| Coaches
| Pos.| No.| Nat.| Name| Height| Weight| DOB| From| Yrs

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

C| 35| | Brown, La'Shawn| 6' 3" (1.91m)| 180 lb (82kg)| 1972-12-01| Louisiana Tech| R
C| 34| | Burge, Heidi| 6' 5" (1.96m)| 185 lb (84kg)| 1971-11-12| Virginia| 1
G/F| 9| | Carter, Deborah| 6' 1" (1.85m)| 185 lb (84kg)| 1972-01-03| Georgia| 1
G| 12| | Chaconas, Keri| 5' 9" (1.75m)| 151 lb (68kg)| 1974-12-21| George Mason| R
C| 32| | Graham, Margo| 6' 4" (1.93m)| 235 lb (107kg)| 1970-12-18| Houston| R
C| 32| | Jackson, Angela| 6' 4" (1.93m)| | 1976-03-30| Texas| R
F/C| 28| | Jackson, Tammy| 6' 2" (1.88m)| 190 lb (86kg)| 1962-12-03| Florida| 1
F| 28| | Johnson, Leslie| 6' 2" (1.88m)| 220 lb (100kg)| 1975-01-12| Western Kentucky| R
G| 15| | McCray, Nikki| 5' 11" (1.8m)| 158 lb (72kg)| 1971-12-17| Tennessee| R
F| 24| | Moore, Penny| 6' 0" (1.83m)| | 1969-01-25| Long Beach State| 1
F| 10| | Page, Murriel| 6' 2" (1.88m)| 160 lb (73kg)| 1975-09-18| Florida| R
C| 11| | Santos de Oliveira, Alessandra| 6' 5" (1.96m)| 181 lb (82kg)| 1973-12-02| | R
G| 30| | Shuler, Adrienne| 5' 6" (1.68m)| | 1969-04-24| Georgia| R
F| 32| | Sobral, Leila| 6' 1" (1.85m)| | 1974-12-22| | R
G| 23| | Williams, Rita| 5' 6" (1.68m)| 135 lb (61kg)| 1976-01-14| Connecticut| R

Head coach
Jim Lewis (West Virginia)
Assistant coaches
Cathy Parson
Wes Unseld Jr.

* * *

Legend

* (C) Team captain
* (DP) Unsigned draft pick
* (FA) Free agent
* (S) Suspended
* Injured

## Schedule

[edit]

### Regular season

[edit]

1998 game log
Total: 3–27 (Home: 2–12; Road: 1–15)

June: 1–7 (Home: 1–2; Road: 0–5)

| Game | Date | Team | Score | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Location
Attendance | Record

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | June 11  | @ Charlotte | L 57–83 | Nikki McCray (19)  | Carter
Moore (4)  | Nikki McCray (6)  | Charlotte Coliseum | 0–1
2  | June 13  | @ Utah | L 77–78 | Nikki McCray (26)  | Alessandra Santos de Oliveira (18)  | Nikki McCray (5)  | Delta Center | 0–2
3  | June 15  | @ Phoenix | L 54–69 | Nikki McCray (20)  | Murriel Page (11)  | Nikki McCray (4)  | America West Arena | 0–3
4  | June 19  | Utah | W 85–76 | Nikki McCray (29)  | Alessandra Santos de Oliveira (7)  | Nikki McCray (6)  | MCI Center | 1–3
5  | June 21  | Detroit | L 57–70 | Penny Moore (18)  | Alessandra Santos de Oliveira (11)  | Nikki McCray (3)  | MCI Center | 1–4
6  | June 25  | @ Detroit | L 71–79 | Nikki McCray (23)  | Murriel Page (10)  | McCray
Moore
Page (4)  | The Palace of Auburn Hills | 1–5
7  | June 28  | Phoenix | L 69–86 | Murriel Page (18)  | Murriel Page (9)  | Nikki McCray (5)  | MCI Center | 1–6
8  | June 29  | @ Houston | L 48–73 | Alessandra Santos de Oliveira (16)  | Murriel Page (7)  | Adrienne Shuler (4)  | Compaq Center | 1–7

July: 1–11 (Home: 0–6; Road: 1–5)

| Game | Date | Team | Score | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Location
Attendance | Record

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

9  | July 1  | Cleveland | L 80–92 | Nikki McCray (19)  | Alessandra Santos de Oliveira (9)  | Moore
Williams (4)  | MCI Center | 1–8
10  | July 3  | @ New York | L 60–76 | Nikki McCray (16)  | Murriel Page (7)  | Keri Chaconas (5)  | Madison Square Garden | 1–9
11  | July 5  | New York | L 61–62 (OT) | Nikki McCray (15)  | Murriel Page (14)  | Rita Williams (4)  | MCI Center | 1–10
12  | July 8  | @ Cleveland | L 65–77 | Nikki McCray (14)  | Nikki McCray (7)  | Penny Moore (5)  | Gund Arena | 1–11
13  | July 11  | @ Detroit | W 78–53 | Nikki McCray (21)  | Alessandra Santos de Oliveira (14)  | Adrienne Shuler (5)  | The Palace of Auburn Hills | 2–11
14  | July 13  | @ Houston | L 67–81 | McCray
Santos de Oliveira (14)  | Alessandra Santos de Oliveira (12)  | Nikki McCray (4)  | Compaq Center | 2–12
15  | July 17  | @ Charlotte | L 56–86 | Burge
Chaconas (10)  | Penny Moore (8)  | Chaconas
Shuler (5)  | Charlotte Coliseum | 2–13
16  | July 19  | Utah | L 88–99 | Nikki McCray (26)  | Murriel Page (7)  | Burge
Chaconas
Shuler (2)  | MCI Center | 2–14
17  | July 21  | Charlotte | L 67–84 | Penny Moore (17)  | Penny Moore (11)  | Penny Moore (5)  | MCI Center | 2–15
18  | July 22  | @ Detroit | L 61–76 | Keri Chaconas (10)  | Murriel Page (8)  | Rita Williams (3)  | The Palace of Auburn Hills | 2–16
19  | July 26  | Sacramento | L 65–79 | Nikki McCray (27)  | Murriel Page (8)  | McCray
Shuler (3)  | MCI Center | 2–17
20  | July 29  | Los Angeles | L 68–77 | Nikki McCray (18)  | Murriel Page (10)  | Nikki McCray (4)  | MCI Center | 2–18

August: 1–9 (Home: 1–4; Road: 0–5)

| Game | Date | Team | Score | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Location
Attendance | Record

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

21  | August 1  | New York | L 53–67 | Keri Chaconas (11)  | McCray
Page (7)  | Heidi Burge (3)  | MCI Center | 2–19
22  | August 3  | @ Los Angeles | L 72–86 | Penny Moore (18)  | Burge
Page
Williams (6)  | Burge
Moore (4)  | Great Western Forum | 2–20
23  | August 4  | @ Phoenix | L 59–88 | Heidi Burge (19)  | Nikki McCray (9)  | Nikki McCray (5)  | America West Arena | 2–21
24  | August 7  | @ Sacramento | L 55–76 | Nikki McCray (11)  | McCray
Page (6)  | Rita Williams (4)  | ARCO Arena | 2–22
25  | August 9  | Los Angeles | W 76–74 | Nikki McCray (21)  | Murriel Page (8)  | Adrienne Shuler (5)  | MCI Center | 3–22
26  | August 12  | Cleveland | L 55–75 | Nikki McCray (19)  | Deborah Carter (8)  | Keri Chaconas (4)  | MCI Center | 3–23
27  | August 13  | @ New York | L 45–88 | Nikki McCray (21)  | Heidi Burge (6)  | Nikki McCray (3)  | Madison Square Garden | 3–24
28  | August 15  | @ Cleveland | L 71–90 | McCray
Page (19)  | Murriel Page (8)  | Rita Williams (8)  | Gund Arena | 3–25
29  | August 17  | Houston | L 65–110 | Nikki McCray (20)  | Deborah Carter (7)  | McCray
Williams (3)  | MCI Center | 3–26
30  | August 19  | Charlotte | L 69–105 | Nikki McCray (20)  | Murriel Page (9)  | Nikki McCray (9)  | MCI Center | 3–27

1998 season schedule

### Season standings

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Nikki McCray | 29  | 28  | 33.4  | .419  | .319  | .748  | 2.9  | 3.1  | 1.5  | 0.1  | 17.7
Murriel Page | 30  | 30  | 31.8  | .479  | .000  | .631  | 6.9  | 1.3  | 0.6  | 0.4  | 8.3
Alessandro Santos de Oliveira | 16  | 12  | 30.1  | .516  | N/A  | .463  | 8.1  | 0.1  | 0.8  | 0.4  | 11.0
Penny Moore | 29  | 26  | 26.1  | .344  | .207  | .717  | 3.7  | 1.6  | 1.5  | 0.7  | 8.2
Rita Williams | 30  | 18  | 23.7  | .320  | .214  | .633  | 2.2  | 2.3  | 2.1  | 0.1  | 4.4
Heidi Burge | 30  | 15  | 16.7  | .509  | .286  | .597  | 3.3  | 0.9  | 0.5  | 0.5  | 6.7
Deborah Carter | 29  | 6  | 15.0  | .271  | .245  | .808  | 2.2  | 0.8  | 0.6  | 0.1  | 3.8
Adrienne Shuler  | 25  | 12  | 14.5  | .369  | .342  | .824  | 2.1  | 1.9  | 0.9  | 0.1  | 3.6
Keri Chaconas | 30  | 1  | 13.2  | .297  | .286  | .788  | 0.8  | 1.3  | 0.4  | 0.0  | 4.8
La'Shawn Brown  | 22  | 2  | 12.4  | .342  | N/A  | .515  | 2.5  | 0.3  | 0.5  | 0.9  | 2.0
Tammy Jackson | 2  | 0  | 7.0  | .667  | N/A  | .000  | 2.0  | 0.0  | 0.0  | 0.0  | 2.0
Margo Graham  | 9  | 0  | 5.4  | .421  | N/A  | .500  | 1.4  | 0.1  | 0.1  | 0.1  | 2.0
Angela Jackson | 7  | 0  | 5.1  | .500  | N/A  | .667  | 0.6  | 0.0  | 0.1  | 0.3  | 1.4
Leila Sobral | 15  | 0  | 4.7  | .250  | .273  | .667  | 0.7  | 0.4  | 0.3  | 0.1  | 1.7
Leslie Johnson  | 6  | 0  | 2.5  | .500  | N/A  | N/A  | 0.2  | 0.2  | 0.0  | 0.0  | 0.3

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

## Awards and honors

[edit]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2010)

|

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "1998 Washington Mystics Transactions". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 4, 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* Washington Mystics on Basketball Reference

* v
* t
* e

1998 WNBA season by team

* Draft
* Championship
* Playoffs

Eastern|

* Charlotte Sting
* Cleveland Rockers
* Detroit Shock
* New York Liberty
* Washington Mystics

Western|

* Houston Comets
* Los Angeles Sparks
* Phoenix Mercury
* Sacramento Monarchs
* Utah Starzz

* ← 1997
* WNBA season
* 1999 →

* v
* t
* e

Washington Mystics

* Founded in 1998
* Based in Washington, D.C.

Franchise|

* Franchise
* Current season

Arenas|

* Capital One Arena (1998–2018)
* CareFirst Arena (2019–present)

Head coaches|

* Jim Lewis
* Cathy Parson
* Nancy Darsch
* Darrell Walker
* Tom Maher
* Marianne Stanley
* Michael Adams
* Richie Adubato
* Tree Rollins
* Jessie Kenlaw
* Julie Plank
* Trudi Lacey
* Mike Thibault
* Eric Thibault
* Sydney Johnson

Administration|

* Sponsor: Inova Health System

* Owner: Monumental Sports & Entertainment (Ted Leonsis)

* President: Michael Winger

* General manager: Melissa McFerrin
* Judy Holland-Burton
* Linda Hargrove
* Angela Taylor
* Trudi Lacey
* Mike Thibault
* Jamila Wideman

All-Stars|

* Ariel Atkins
* Alana Beard
* Tina Charles
* Monique Currie
* Stacey Dales
* Elena Delle Donne
* Stefanie Dolson
* Lindsey Harding
* Chamique Holdsclaw
* Crystal Langhorne
* Ivory Latta
* Nikki McCray
* Emma Meesseman
* DeLisha Milton-Jones
* Kristi Toliver

Culture & lore|

* "Swag Surfin"

Seasons|

* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Playoff appearances|

* 2000
* 2002
* 2004
* 2006
* 2009
* 2010
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2022
* 2023

Conference Championships|

* 2018
* 2019

WNBA Championships|

* 2019

Media|

* Monumental Sports Network

* Category
* Commons

*[Pos.]: Position
*[No.]: Number
*[Nat.]: Nationality
*[DOB]: Date of birth
*[Yrs]: Years
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template