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 →

Offseason

WNBA Draft

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

Regular season

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

Season schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Record
May 31	Washington	69-34	Win	1-0
June 2	@ Sacramento	65-70	Loss	1-1
June 5	@ Los Angeles	50-58	Loss	1-2
June 7	New York	67-49	Win	2-2
June 9	Indiana	86-76	Win	3-2
June 12	@ Portland	62-67	Loss	3-3
June 14	@ Seattle	58-36	Win	4-3
June 16	Miami	70-53	Win	5-3
June 17	@ Washington	57-55	Win	6-3
June 22	Los Angeles	74-70	Win	7-3
June 24	@ Miami	54-35	Win	8-3
June 26	Portland	61-57	Win	9-3
June 27	@ Orlando	65-41	Win	10-3
June 30	@ Charlotte	55-58	Loss	10-4
July 1	Minnesota	52-47	Win	11-4
July 6	@ Utah	69-73	Loss	11-5
July 8	@ Houston	63-53	Win	12-5
July 10	Seattle	59-53	Win	13-5
July 11	@ Indiana	76-58	Win	14-5
July 13	Phoenix	69-61	Win	15-5
July 19	New York	65-60	Win	16-5
July 21	Charlotte	56-41	Win	17-5
July 25	Miami	52-48	Win	18-5
July 27	Indiana	63-67	Loss	18-6
July 28	@ Detroit	57-50	Win	19-6
July 30	Orlando	65-47	Win	20-6
August 4	@ New York	58-43	Win	21-6
August 7	@ Orlando	67-74	Loss	21-7
August 8	Detroit	73-66	Win	22-7
August 10	Charlotte	53-55	Loss	22-8
August 12	@ Washington	49-57	Loss	22-9
August 14	@ Detroit	65-76	Loss	22-10

Playoffs

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Record
Eastern Conference Semifinals
1	August 16	@ Charlotte	46-53	Loss	0-1
2	August 18	Charlotte	69-51	Win	1-1
3	August 20	Charlotte	64-72	Loss	1-2

Player stats

Player	GP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS
Merlakia Jones	30	164	45	29	4	404
Chasity Melvin	27	154	50	24	16	266
Rushia Brown	30	132	37	44	10	249
Ann Wauters	24	114	35	17	13	234
Penny Taylor	32	112	44	35	11	230
Helen Darling	32	76	109	34	4	196
Mery Andrade	32	87	100	51	10	152
Jennifer Rizzotti	32	30	51	25	2	119
Eva Nemcova	8	10	8	2	5	34
Pollyanna Johns Kimbrough	18	31	4	0	2	28
Tricia Bader Binford	19	12	11	5	0	21
Paige Sauer	2	2	0	0	1	2

[1]

References

1. https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/teams/CLE/2001.html