2001 Cleveland Rockers season

The 2001 WNBA season was the 5th season for the Cleveland Rockers. The Rockers topped the Eastern Conference with the best record in franchise history, but their season ended shortly in the playoffs, losing in the first round to eventual conference champion Charlotte Sting.

2001 Cleveland Rockers season
Coach	Dan Hughes
Arena	Gund Arena
Attendance	9,211 per game
Results
Record	22–10 (.688)
Place	1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Lost First Round (2-1) to Charlotte Sting
Team Leaders
Points	Merlakia Jones (13.5)
Rebounds	Chasity Melvin (5.7)
Assists	Helen Darling (3.4)
Media
Television	WUAB (UPN 43) Fox Sports Net Ohio
← 2000 season 2002 season →

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2001 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	11	Penny Taylor	Australia	Dandenong Rangers (Australia)
2	27	Jaynetta Saunders	United States	Texas A&M
3	43	Angelina Wolvert	United States	Oregon
4	59	Erin Batth	United States	Clemson

Transactions

Date	Transaction
April 20, 2001	Drafted Penny Taylor, Jaynetta Saunders, Angelina Wolvert and Erin Batth in the 2001 WNBA Draft[1]
April 30, 2001	Signed Jessica Zinobile, Kim Williams, Rhonda Blades and Rhonda Smith[1]
May 8, 2001	Waived Kim Williams and Rhonda Smith[1]
May 11, 2001	Waived Rhonda Blades[1]
May 22, 2001	Waived Erin Batth[1]
May 27, 2001	Traded Jaynetta Saunders to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for a 2002 2nd Round Pick[1]
	Traded a 2002 3rd Round Pick to the Detroit Shock in exchange for Jennifer Rizzotti[1]
	Waived Jessica Zinobile[1]
	Suspended contracts of Ann Wauters and Rushia Brown[1]
June 1, 2001	Waived Angelina Wolvert[1]
June 16, 2001	Waived Adia Barnes[1]
July 10, 2001	Waived Vicki Hall[1]
July 12, 2001	Waived Paige Sauer[1]

Roster

2001 Cleveland Rockers roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs F 23 Andrade, Mery 6' 0" (1.83m) 169 lb (77kg) 1975-12-31 Old Dominion 2 G 11 Bader Binford, Tricia 5' 4" (1.63m) 125 lb (57kg) 1973-02-26 Boise State 3 F 32 Barnes, Adia 5' 11" (1.8m) 165 lb (75kg) 1977-02-03 Arizona 3 F 34 Brown, Rushia 6' 2" (1.88m) 175 lb (79kg) 1972-05-05 Furman 4 G 30 Darling, Helen 5' 6" (1.68m) 164 lb (74kg) 1978-08-29 Penn State 1 F 42 Hall, Vicki 6' 1" (1.85m) 180 lb (82kg) 1969-10-03 Texas 1 C 41 Johns Kimbrough, Pollyanna 6' 3" (1.91m) 165 lb (75kg) 1975-11-06 Michigan 2 G 25 Jones, Merlakia 5' 10" (1.78m) 147 lb (67kg) 1973-06-21 Florida 4 F/C 44 Melvin, Chasity 6' 3" (1.91m) 185 lb (84kg) 1976-05-03 NC State 2 F 6 Němcová, Eva 6' 3" (1.91m) 178 lb (81kg) 1972-12-03 4 G 21 Rizzotti, Jennifer 5' 6" (1.68m) 146 lb (66kg) 1974-05-15 Connecticut 2 C 31 Sauer, Paige 6' 5" (1.96m) 200 lb (91kg) 1977-12-08 Connecticut 1 F 14 Taylor, Penny 6' 1" (1.85m) 165 lb (75kg) 1981-05-24 R C 12 Wauters, Ann 6' 4" (1.93m) 193 lb (88kg) 1980-10-12 1 F/C 40 Wolvert, Angelina 6' 3" (1.91m) 1978-12-08 Oregon R	Head coach Dan Hughes (Muskingum) Assistant coaches Lisa Boyer Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Schedule

Regular season

2001 game log Total: 22–10 (Home: 14–2; Road: 8–8)
May: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 31 Washington W 69–34 Merlakia Jones (17) Pollyanna Johns Kimbrough (10) Chasity Melvin (5) Gund Arena 1–0
June : 9–4 (Home: 5–0; Road: 4–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 2 June 2 @ Sacramento L 65–70 Penny Taylor (19) Jones Melvin (7) Andrade Taylor (4) ARCO Arena 1–1 3 June 5 @ Los Angeles L 50–58 Merlakia Jones (18) Merlakia Jones (12) Helen Darling (8) Staples Center 1–2 4 June 7 New York W 67–49 Jones Melvin (13) Merlakia Jones (8) Merlakia Jones (6) Gund Arena 2–2 5 June 9 Indiana W 86–76 Chasity Melvin (22) Brown Jones (6) Chasity Melvin (5) Gund Arena 3–2 6 June 12 @ Portland L 62–67 Penny Taylor (11) Merlakia Jones (7) Andrade Jones (4) Rose Garden 3–3 7 June 14 @ Seattle W 58–36 Chasity Melvin (16) Chasity Melvin (10) Mery Andrade (6) KeyArena 4–3 8 June 16 Miami W 70–53 Merlakia Jones (18) Chasity Melvin (11) Andrade Jones (5) Gund Arena 5–3 9 June 17 @ Washington W 57–55 Merlakia Jones (17) Chasity Melvin (12) Mery Andrade (6) MCI Center 6–3 10 June 22 Los Angeles W 74–70 Merlakia Jones (26) Chasity Melvin (7) Helen Darling (4) Gund Arena 7–3 11 June 24 @ Miami W 54–35 Chasity Melvin (11) Merlakia Jones (9) Jennifer Rizzotti (4) American Airlines Arena 8–3 12 June 26 Portland W 61–57 Merlakia Jones (20) Taylor Wauters (6) Helen Darling (5) Gund Arena 9–3 13 June 27 @ Orlando W 65–41 Chasity Melvin (12) Hall Melvin Taylor (5) Helen Darling (8) TD Waterhouse Centre 10–3 14 June 30 @ Charlotte L 55–58 Rushia Brown (16) Merlakia Jones (7) Darling Jones Melvin (3) Charlotte Coliseum 10–4
July : 10–2 (Home: 7–1; Road: 3–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 15 July 1 Minnesota W 52–47 Merlakia Jones (13) Merlakia Jones (6) Helen Darling (6) Gund Arena 11–4 16 July 6 @ Utah L 69–73 Jones Melvin (13) Chasity Melvin (8) Mery Andrade (4) Delta Center 11–5 17 July 8 @ Houston W 63–53 Helen Darling (18) Rushia Brown (11) Helen Darling (7) Compaq Center 12–5 18 July 10 Seattle W 59–53 Rushia Brown (18) Rushia Brown (8) Brown Darling Rizzotti (4) Gund Arena 13–5 19 July 11 @ Indiana W 76–58 Darling Taylor (14) Pollyanna Johns Kimbrough (5) Jennifer Rizzotti (7) Conseco Fieldhouse 14–5 20 July 13 Phoenix W 69–61 Merlakia Jones (22) Merlakia Jones (11) Darling Rizzotti (3) Gund Arena 15–5 21 July 19 New York W 65–60 Ann Wauters (19) Brown Jones (9) Helen Darling (6) Gund Arena 16–5 22 July 21 Charlotte W 56–41 Ann Wauters (15) Brown Jones (6) Helen Darling (4) Gund Arena 17–5 23 July 25 Miami W 52–48 (OT) Rushia Brown (15) Ann Wauters (10) Mery Andrade (5) Gund Arena 18–5 24 July 27 Indiana L 63–67 Rushia Brown (20) Jones Taylor (7) Mery Andrade (7) Gund Arena 18–6 25 July 28 @ Detroit W 57–50 Merlakia Jones (12) Ann Wauters (8) Helen Darling (2) The Palace of Auburn Hills 19–6 26 July 30 Orlando W 65–46 Helen Darling (16) Rushia Brown (8) Helen Darling (5) Charlotte Coliseum 20–6
August : 2–4 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 27 August 4 @ New York W 58–43 Ann Wauters (14) Merlakia Jones (11) Rushia Brown (3) Madison Square Garden 21–6 28 August 7 @ Orlando L 67–74 Merlakia Jones (20) Rushia Brown (7) Mery Andrade (5) TD Waterhouse Centre 21–7 29 August 8 Detroit W 73–66 Jones Taylor (14) Jones Wauters (7) Andrade Melvin (4) Gund Arena 22–7 30 August 10 Charlotte L 53–55 Merlakia Jones (15) Ann Wauters (10) Ann Wauters (5) Gund Arena 22–8 31 August 12 @ Washington L 49–57 Chasity Melvin (13) Chasity Melvin (10) Helen Darling (4) MCI Center 22–9 32 August 14 @ Detroit L 65–76 Penny Taylor (21) Ann Wauters (8) Mery Andrade (5) The Palace of Auburn Hills 22–10
2001 season schedule

Playoffs

2001 playoff game log
First round vs. Charlotte Sting Lost Series: 1–2 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 August 16 @ Charlotte L 46–53 Ann Wauters (12) Merlakia Jones (7) Merlakia Jones (7) Charlotte Coliseum 0–1 2 August 18 Charlotte W 69–51 Merlakia Jones (19) Merlakia Jones (7) Darling Rizzotti (6) Gund Arena 1–1 3 August 20 Charlotte L 64–72 Merlakia Jones (13) Helen Darling (5) Helen Darling (10) Gund Arena 1–2
2001 playoff schedule

Season standings

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
Cleveland Rockers x	22	10	.688	15–6	–
New York Liberty x	21	11	.656	13–8	1.0
Miami Sol x	20	12	.625	14–7	2.0
Charlotte Sting x	18	14	.563	15–6	4.0
Orlando Miracle o	13	19	.406	9–12	9.0
Indiana Fever o	10	22	.313	7–14	12.0
Detroit Shock o	10	22	.313	7–14	12.0
Washington Mystics o	10	22	.313	4–17	12.0

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
Merlakia Jones	30	30	33.3	.438	.265	.793	5.5	1.5	1.0	0.1	13.5
Mery Andrade	32	32	27.9	.339	.200	.667	2.7	3.1	1.6	0.3	4.8
Chasity Melvin	27	20	27.9	.474	1.000	.698	5.7	1.9	0.9	0.6	9.9
Ann Wauters	24	14	25.9	.569	.000	.800	4.8	1.5	0.7	0.5	9.8
Rushia Brown	30	24	25.3	.518	1.000	.730	4.4	1.2	1.5	0.3	8.3
Helen Darling	32	32	24.3	.355	.329	.764	2.4	3.4	1.1	0.1	6.1
Penny Taylor	32	0	17.5	.382	.301	.783	3.5	1.4	1.1	0.3	7.2
Vicki Hall	14	6	16.1	.409	.318	.500	2.4	0.6	0.1	0.4	4.6
Jennifer Rizzotti	32	0	14.9	.382	.384	.636	0.9	1.6	0.8	0.1	3.7
Eva Němcová	8	2	14.1	.342	.200	.625	1.3	1.0	0.3	0.6	4.3
Pollyanna Johns Kimbrough	18	0	6.6	.444	N/A	.444	1.7	0.2	0.0	0.1	1.6
Tricia Bader Binford	19	0	6.0	.400	.385	N/A	0.6	0.6	0.3	0.0	1.1
Angelina Wolvert	1	0	5.0	.333	N/A	N/A	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0
Paige Sauer	2	0	2.0	.333	N/A	N/A	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	1.0
Adia Barnes	3	0	1.0	1.000	N/A	N/A	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7

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