1998 Utah Starzz season

The 1998 WNBA season was the 2nd for the Utah Starzz. The team finished dead last in the West for the second consecutive season.

1998 Utah Starzz season
Coach	Denise Taylor (fired Jul. 27, 6–13 record) Frank Layden (2–9 record)
Arena	Delta Center
Attendance	8,104 per game
Results
Record	8–22 (.267)
Place	5th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
← 1997 season 1999 season →

Transactions

Washington Mystics expansion draft

The following player was selected in the Washington Mystics expansion draft from the Utah Starzz:

Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
Deborah Carter	United States	Georgia

WNBA draft

See also: 1998 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	1	Margo Dydek	Poland	Pool Getafe (Spain)
2	11	Olympia Scott	United States	Stanford
3	21	LaTonya Johnson	United States	Memphis
4	31	Tricia Bader Binford	United States	Boise State

Transactions

Date	Transaction
February 18, 1998	Lost Deborah Carter to the Washington Mystics in the WNBA expansion draft[1]
April 29, 1998	Drafted Margo Dydek, Olympia Scott, LaTonya Johnson and Tricia Bader Binford in the 1998 WNBA Draft[1]
May 5, 1998	Traded Lady Hardmon to the Sacramento Monarchs in exchange for Chantel Tremitiere[1]
May 8, 1998	Traded Karen Booker to the Houston Comets in exchange for Fran Harris[1]
June 10, 1998	Waived Greta Koss[1]
July 27, 1998	Fired Denise Taylor as Head Coach[1]
	Hired Frank Layden as Head Coach[1]
July 28, 1998	Waived Fran Harris[1]

Roster

1998 Utah Starzz roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G 40 Alexander, Erin 5' 7" (1.7m) 140 lb (64kg) 1975-04-25 UC Santa Barbara R G/F 34 Bader Binford, Tricia 5' 4" (1.63m) 125 lb (57kg) 1973-02-26 Boise State R F 28 Baranova, Elena 6' 5" (1.96m) 182 lb (83kg) 1972-01-28 1 C 12 Dydek, Margo 7' 2" (2.18m) 223 lb (101kg) 1974-04-28 R G/F 20 Harris, Fran 6' 0" (1.83m) 153 lb (69kg) 1965-03-12 Texas 1 G 11 Head, Dena 5' 10" (1.78m) 175 lb (79kg) 1970-08-16 Tennessee 1 F 24 Johnson, LaTonya 6' 1" (1.85m) 150 lb (68kg) 1975-08-17 Memphis R F 14 Palmer, Wendy 6' 2" (1.88m) 165 lb (75kg) 1974-08-12 Virginia 1 G 32 Reiss, Tammi 5' 6" (1.68m) 129 lb (59kg) 1970-04-02 Virginia 1 C 0 Scott, Olympia 6' 2" (1.88m) 175 lb (79kg) 1976-05-05 Stanford R G 3 Tremitiere, Chantel 5' 6" (1.68m) 142 lb (64kg) 1969-10-20 Auburn 1 G 23 Williams, Kim 5' 6" (1.68m) 136 lb (62kg) 1974-10-14 DePaul 1	Head coach Frank Layden (Niagara) Assistant coaches Fred Williams Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Schedule

Regular season

1998 game log Total: 8–22 (Home: 5–10; Road: 3–12)
June: 2–7 (Home: 2–3; Road: 0–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 June 11 Los Angeles L 83–89 Elena Baranova (18) Elena Baranova (14) Tammi Reiss (6) Delta Center 0–1 2 June 13 Washington W 78–77 Baranova Reiss (17) Elena Baranova (11) Kim Williams (5) Delta Center 1–1 3 June 15 New York W 71–60 Tammi Reiss (15) Margo Dydek (13) Fran Harris (3) Delta Center 2–1 4 June 19 @ Washington L 76–85 Olympia Scott (15) Elena Baranova (10) Elena Baranova (4) MCI Center 2–2 5 June 21 @ New York L 64–68 Margo Dydek (14) Baranova Head (6) Baranova Reiss (5) Madison Square Garden 2–3 6 June 22 @ Cleveland L 72–88 Margo Dydek (18) Elena Baranova (6) Dena Head (4) Gund Arena 2–4 7 June 25 Charlotte L 83–91 Margo Dydek (21) Elena Baranova (13) Elena Baranova (5) Delta Center 2–5 8 June 26 @ Phoenix L 63–96 Elena Baranova (12) Elena Baranova (9) Chantel Tremitiere (3) America West Arena 2–6 9 June 30 Houston L 73–75 (2OT) Margo Dydek (27) Elena Baranova (17) Elena Baranova (6) Delta Center 2–7
July : 5–7 (Home: 2–2; Road: 3–5) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 10 July 2 @ Los Angeles W 58–57 Margo Dydek (15) Margo Dydek (9) Baranova Tremitiere (6) Great Western Forum 3–7 11 July 5 @ Sacramento L 66–70 Elena Baranova (14) Elena Baranova (10) Tremitiere Williams (4) ARCO Arena 3–8 12 July 6 Sacramento W 68–64 Elena Baranova (22) Elena Baranova (13) Chantel Tremitiere (5) Delta Center 4–8 13 July 8 Charlotte L 69–77 Wendy Palmer (30) Wendy Palmer (8) Bader Binford Head (4) Delta Center 4–9 14 July 11 @ Houston L 68–95 Wendy Palmer (22) Dydek Palmer (10) Chantel Tremitiere (5) Compaq Center 4–10 15 July 13 Detroit L 67–74 Wendy Palmer (19) Wendy Palmer (9) Chantel Tremitiere (3) Delta Center 4–11 16 July 17 @ Detroit L 67–79 Kim Williams (16) Margo Dydek (11) Chantel Tremitiere (3) The Palace of Auburn Hills 4–12 17 July 19 @ Washington W 99–88 Wendy Palmer (24) Dydek Palmer (9) Chantel Tremitiere (6) MCI Center 5–12 18 July 22 @ Charlotte W 61–58 Kim Williams (15) Margo Dydek (14) Chantel Tremitiere (4) Charlotte Coliseum 6–12 19 July 25 @ Cleveland L 59–69 Wendy Palmer (23) Wendy Palmer (11) Chantel Tremitiere (7) Gund Arena 6–13 20 July 27 Phoenix W 90–80 LaTonya Johnson (15) Margo Dydek (9) Dydek Scott (4) Delta Center 7–13 21 July 30 @ Houston L 65–88 Margo Dydek (17) Margo Dydek (11) Chantel Tremitiere (7) Compaq Center 7–14
August : 1–8 (Home: 1–5; Road: 0–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 22 August 1 Los Angeles L 65–73 Wendy Palmer (15) Wendy Palmer (12) Dydek Tremitiere Williams (3) Delta Center 7–15 23 August 4 Houston L 57–77 Margo Dydek (20) Margo Dydek (10) Dydek Head Reiss (3) Delta Center 7–16 24 August 6 Cleveland L 69–79 Wendy Palmer (26) Margo Dydek (11) Chantel Tremitiere (4) Delta Center 7–17 25 August 8 @ Phoenix L 62–68 Margo Dydek (19) Wendy Palmer (8) Chantel Tremitiere (4) America West Arena 7–18 26 August 10 Detroit L 73–77 Wendy Palmer (20) Wendy Palmer (12) Palmer Tremitiere (4) Delta Center 7–19 27 August 12 Sacramento W 81–71 Wendy Palmer (31) Wendy Palmer (11) Elena Baranova (8) Delta Center 8–19 28 August 14 @ Los Angeles L 67–87 Wendy Palmer (23) Elena Baranova (10) Elena Baranova (5) Great Western Forum 8–20 29 August 15 @ Sacramento L 55–82 Elena Baranova (13) Wendy Palmer (12) Palmer Williams (4) ARCO Arena 8–21 30 August 17 Phoenix L 64–75 Wendy Palmer (16) Elena Baranova (11) Elena Baranova (5) Delta Center 8–22
1998 season schedule

Season standings

Western Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
Houston Comets x	27	3	.900	15–1	–
Phoenix Mercury x	19	11	.633	10–6	8.0
Los Angeles Sparks o	12	18	.400	6–10	15.0
Sacramento Monarchs o	8	22	.267	5–11	19.0
Utah Starzz o	8	22	.267	4–12	19.0

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
Elena Baranova	20	19	33.6	.420	.313	.831	9.3	3.5	1.1	1.5	12.9
Margo Dydek	30	30	28.0	.482	.143	.732	7.6	1.8	0.5	3.8	12.9
Wendy Palmer	28	21	27.2	.472	.353	.653	6.6	1.1	0.6	0.2	13.5
Chantel Tremitiere	28	18	25.3	.364	.367	.759	2.2	3.6	0.8	0.1	5.5
Tammi Reiss	22	17	21.7	.403	.296	.655	1.8	2.2	0.5	0.0	6.5
Fran Harris	18	12	19.6	.354	.313	.833	2.2	1.7	0.7	0.1	3.9
Kim Williams	30	10	18.1	.408	.321	.735	1.9	1.5	1.4	0.2	7.6
LaTonya Johnson	28	8	17.5	.400	.286	.618	1.9	0.7	0.4	0.0	5.4
Olympia Scott	29	1	16.1	.430	.200	.569	2.9	0.8	0.8	0.3	5.3
Dena Head	30	14	15.6	.424	.481	.697	1.7	1.2	1.0	0.0	3.6
Tricia Bader Binford	22	0	9.4	.302	.370	.500	0.5	0.9	0.6	0.0	2.1
Erin Alexander	12	0	5.7	.227	.263	1.000	0.3	0.3	0.1	0.0	1.4

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