WNBA
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA). An affiliate of the NBA with the parent organization's complete backing, the WNBA was established in 1996 as an eight-team league which has since grown to its present total of 14 teams. Rules of play are almost identical to those of the NBA, notable exceptions being a marginally smaller basketball size and a slightly different three-point arc. Many of the WNBA teams represent a city which also has an NBA team, and most of these teams play at the same venue as their NBA counterpart.
Currently, the WNBA is divided into two conferences: the Eastern Conference with 6 teams and the Western Conference with 7 teams.
WNBA Playoffs
The WNBA has a three-round playoff format. The first round, the conference semifinals, match up a conference's #1 seed against the #4 seed, and #3 seed against the #4 seed. The semifinal round are best-of-3 games series. The winners advance on the the conference finals, also best-of-3 game series. The Eastern Conference and Western Conference champions then advance to the WNBA Finals to play a best-of-5 game championship series to crown the WNBA's champion.
WNBA At-A-Glance
- Season: May through August. Each WNBA team plays a 34-game regular season schedule, broken down as follows: 4 games each vs two teams in its conference, 3 games vs each of the remaining four teams in its conference, and 2 games vs each team in the opposing conference.
- Teams: 13 (6 Eastern Conference, 7 Western Conference)
- Events:
- The WNBA All-Star Game (mid-July)
- Championship: The WNBA Finals
- Current champion: 2007 - Phoenix Mercury
- Hall of Fame: Basketball Hall of Fame, in Springfield, Massachusetts and the Women's Basketball Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee
WNBA Teams
Eastern Conference
- Chicago Sky - Chicago, Illinois
- Connecticut Sun - Uncasville, Connecticut
- Detroit Shock - Detroit, Michigan
- Indiana Fever - Indianapolis, Indiana
- New York Liberty - New York, NY
- Washington Mystics - Washington, DC
- Houston Comets - Houston, Texas
- Los Angeles Sparks - Los Angeles, California
- Minnesota Lynx - Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Phoenix Mercury - Phoenix, Arizona
- Sacramento Monarchs - Sacramento, California
- San Antonio Silver Stars - San Antonio, Texas
- Seattle Storm - Seattle, Washington
WNBA News
| Yahoo! Sports - WNBA News |
| Sky-Storm Preview (AP) With the top seed in the Western Conference already clinched, the Seattle Storm might need to find some motivation over the last three weeks of the regular season. Staying unbeaten at home and defeating the team that handed them their first loss of the year should be more than enough. Looking to improve to 13-0 at KeyArena, the Storm also look for their 13th straight win overall Friday night... |
| WNBA receives A-plus for diversity (AP) The WNBA remains the first-place league in race and gender diversity. The league received a combined grade of A-plus in the annual report card released Thursday by the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. It's the highest grade for any sport since 2004. The WNBA tied its highest grade for gender with 97.5 points out of 100 (an A-plus), and scored 93.5... |
| Sparks-Liberty Preview (AP) Production from unlikely sources has the surging New York Liberty looking to climb the Eastern Conference standings. The Los Angeles Sparks are gaining confidence without their star. The Liberty attempt to continue their success against the Sparks when they conclude their season series Friday night at Madison Square Garden. |
| Dream-Sun Preview (AP) With more than three weeks left in the season, the top seed in the Western Conference has already been clinched. It could take a while for that to happen in the East. The Atlanta Dream try to keep pressure on the East leaders when they face a Connecticut Sun team also looking to improve its standing Friday night. |
| Silver Stars-Mystics Preview (AP) The Washington Mystics moved into a first-place tie in the Eastern Conference last week. Back-to-back losses now have them trying to hang on to one of the final playoff spots. The Mystics hope a return home can help them get back on track Thursday night when they face a San Antonio Silver Stars team that has made a habit of losing close games. |
| Lynx-Mercury Preview (AP) The Phoenix Mercury and Minnesota Lynx may have been battling fatigue in their most recent games after a matchup over the weekend resulted in the highest scoring game in WNBA history. Both teams will try to bounce back from tough losses when they meet Thursday night at US Airways Center. Phoenix defeated Minnesota 127-124 in double-overtime Saturday to set a new scoring mark. |
| Storm rallies from 18 down to beat Mercury 91-85 (AP) The Storm needed a huge halftime rally to clinch the top seed in the Western Conference. Lauren Jackson scored a season high 33 points to help Seattle rally from an 18-point halftime deficit to beat the Phoenix Mercury 91-85 on Tuesday night. "That's what we've been talking about year long," said Sue Bird, who had 16 points. |
| WNBA Capsules (AP) Lauren Jackson scored a season high 33 points to help the Seattle Storm rally from an 18-point halftime deficit and beat the Phoenix Mercury 91-85 on Tuesday night to clinch the top seed in the Western Conference. Sue Bird added 16 and Tanisha Wright 14 for Seattle (21-2), which won its 12th consecutive game. |
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