The 2002 WNBA season was the sixth season for the New York Liberty. The Liberty franchise reached their 4th berth to the WNBA Finals, but lost in a sweep to the Los Angeles Sparks. This was the last season that New York qualified for the WNBA Finals, before their appearance in 2023.
Transactions
WNBA draft
Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country226Linda FröhlichUNLV346Tracy GahanIowa State462Deedee WarleyMaryland
Transactions DateTransactionApril 3, 2002Traded Rebecca Lobo to the Houston Comets in exchange for a 2002 2nd Round PickApril 18, 2002Traded a 2002 1st Round Pick to the Utah Starzz in exchange for Korie HledeApril 19, 2002 Drafted Linda Fröhlich, Tracy Gahan, and Deedee Warley in the 2002 WNBA draftApril 22, 2002Traded Andrea Nagy to the Sacramento Monarchs in exchange for a 2003 2nd Round PickApril 23, 2002Traded Grace Daley to the Houston Comets in exchange for a 2003 2nd Round PickMay 7, 2002Waived Bethany Donaphin and Deedee WarleyMay 8, 2002Waived Shondra JohnsonMay 21, 2002Waived Mactabene Amachree and Tracy GahanJuly 2, 2002Waived Marina Ferragut
Roster
Schedule
Regular season
| 1 | May 25 | @ Los Angeles | L 64–72 | Vickie Johnson (19) | Vickie Johnson (6) | Teresa Weatherspoon (5) | Staples Center | 0–1 |- | 2 | May 28 | @ Portland | W 84–62 | Becky Hammon (22) | Tari Phillips (9) | Teresa Weatherspoon (11) | Rose Garden | 1–1 |- | 3 | May 30 | @ Seattle | W 78–61 | Crystal Robinson (17) | Johnson Whitmore (7) | Teresa Weatherspoon (4) | KeyArena | 2–1
| 4 | June 2 | Miami | W 58–52 | Crystal Robinson (16) | Phillips Whitmore (5) | Teresa Weatherspoon (3) | Madison Square Garden | 3–1 |- | 5 | June 5 | Detroit | W 60–59 | Vickie Johnson (21) | Tari Phillips (8) | Teresa Weatherspoon (4) | Madison Square Garden | 4–1 |- | 6 | June 8 | @ Indiana | L 62–71 | Tamika Whitmore (18) | Phillips Wicks (6) | Teresa Weatherspoon (6) | Conseco Fieldhouse | 4–2 |- | 7 | June 9 | @ Detroit | W 70–63 | Crystal Robinson (19) | Phillips Wicks (6) | Teresa Weatherspoon (4) | The Palace of Auburn Hills | 5–2 |- | 8 | June 11 | @ Utah | W 71–68 | Tari Phillips (22) | Tari Phillips (8) | Teresa Weatherspoon (5) | Delta Center | 6–2 |- | 9 | June 13 | @ Sacramento | L 77–78 (2OT) | Tamika Whitmore (21) | Phillips Robinson (7) | Teresa Weatherspoon (12) | ARCO Arena | 6–3 |- | 10 | June 16 | Charlotte | W 54–53 | Vickie Johnson (15) | Tari Phillips (7) | Teresa Weatherspoon (5) | Madison Square Garden | 7–3 |- | 11 | June 18 | Orlando | L 62–71 | Crystal Robinson (19) | Tari Phillips (7) | Teresa Weatherspoon (6) | Madison Square Garden | 7–4 |- | 12 | June 21 | @ Cleveland | L 69–80 | Vickie Johnson (19) | Tari Phillips (5) | Teresa Weatherspoon (9) | Gund Arena | 7–5 |- | 13 | June 23 | @ Orlando | L 65–77 | Tari Phillips (16) | Phillips Whitmore (8) | Johnson Weatherspoon (5) | TD Waterhouse Centre | 7–6 |- | 14 | June 25 | Indiana | W 74–55 | Crystal Robinson (24) | Tari Phillips (8) | Teresa Weatherspoon (10) | Madison Square Garden | 8–6 |- | 15 | June 28 | Cleveland | L 58–67 | Tari Phillips (18) | Tari Phillips (9) | Robinson Weatherspoon (4) | Madison Square Garden | 8–7 |- | 16 | June 30 | Portland | L 44–54 | Crystal Robinson (17) | Tari Phillips (7) | Teresa Weatherspoon (6) | Madison Square Garden | 8–8
| 17 | July 2 | Seattle | W 74–63 | Tari Phillips (19) | Hammon Phillips Weathersppon Wicks (3) | Johnson Weathersppon (6) | Madison Square Garden | 9–8 |- | 18 | July 8 | Phoenix | W 77–71 | Tamika Whitmore (28) | Phillips Whitmore (5) | Teresa Weatherspoon (9) | Madison Square Garden | 10–8 |- | 19 | July 10 | @ Detroit | L 63–66 | Crystal Robinson (17) | Tari Phillips (7) | Teresa Weatherspoon (5) | The Palace of Auburn Hills | 10–9 |- | 20 | July 13 | @ Washington | W 67–53 | Vickie Johnson (19) | Tari Phillips (12) | Vickie Johnson (5) | MCI Center | 11–9 |- | 21 | July 18 | Los Angeles | W 72–59 | Tamika Whitmore (25) | Tari Phillips (9) | Teresa Weatherspoon (6) | Target Center | 12–9 |- | 22 | July 19 | @ Indiana | W 70–62 | Becky Hammon (15) | Tari Phillips (5) | Vickie Johnson (4) | Conseco Fieldhouse | 13–9 |- | 23 | July 22 | Cleveland | W 73–52 | Tari Phillips (15) | Hammon Phillips (5) | Hammon Johnson (3) | Madison Square Garden | 14–9 |- | 24 | July 23 | @ Miami | L 46–54 | Crystal Robinson (12) | Tamika Whitmore (8) | Teresa Weatherspoon (3) | American Airlines Arena | 14–10 |- | 25 | July 28 | Houston | W 62–56 | Tamika Whitmore (15) | Phillips Whitmore (8) | Teresa Weatherspoon (4) | Madison Square Garden | 15–10
| 26 | August 2 | Miami | W 66–54 | Vickie Johnson (20) | Tari Phillips (8) | Teresa Weatherspoon (10) | Madison Square Garden | 16–10 |- | 27 | August 4 | @ Charlotte | W 71–58 | Vickie Johnson (20) | Sue Wicks (9) | Teresa Weatherspoon (8) | Charlotte Coliseum | 17–10 |- | 28 | August 6 | Minnesota | L 49–52 | Tari Phillips (17) | Tari Phillips (11) | Vickie Johnson (6) | Madison Square Garden | 17–11 |- | 29 | August 8 | Washington | L 54–65 | Tari Phillips (22) | Tari Phillips (11) | Hammon Weatherspoon (4) | Madison Square Garden | 17–12 |- | 30 | August 9 | @ Washington | W 74–66 | Becky Hammon (22) | Weatherspoon Whitmore (6) | Teresa Weatherspoon (8) | MCI Center | 18–12 |- | 31 | August 11 | Charlotte | L 58–71 | Crystal Robinson (16) | Tamika Whitmore (8) | Teresa Weatherspoon (7) | Madison Square Garden | 18–13 |- | 32 | August 13 | @ Orlando | L 63–70 | Phillips Whitmore (20) | Tari Phillips (10) | Hammon Robinson (3) | TD Waterhouse Centre | 18–14
Playoffs
| 1 | August 16 | @ Indiana | L 55–73 | Tamika Whitmore (18) | Becky Hammon (5) | Teresa Weatherspoon (4) | Conseco Fieldhouse | 0–1 |- | 2 | August 18 | Indiana | W 84–65 | Tamika Whitmore (24) | Tamika Whitmore (6) | Teresa Weatherspoon (9) | Madison Square Garden | 1–1 |- | 3 | August 20 | Indiana | W 75–60 | Vickie Johnson (19) | Vickie Johnson (7) | Teresa Weatherspoon (7) | Madison Square Garden | 2–1
| 1 | August 22 | @ Washington | L 74–79 | Tari Phillips (21) | Phillips Robinson Weatherspoon Whitmore (5) | Teresa Weatherspoon (9) | MCI Center | 0–1 |- | 2 | August 24 | Washington | W 96–79 | Phillips Whitmore (23) | Tari Phillips (6) | Teresa Weatherspoon (12) | Madison Square Garden | 1–1 |- | 3 | August 25 | Washington | W 64–57 | Vickie Johnson (19) | Tari Phillips (11) | Teresa Weatherspoon (4) | Madison Square Garden | 2–1
| 1 | August 29 | Los Angeles | L 63–71 | Becky Hammon (18) | Teresa Weatherspoon (7) | Johnson Phillips Weatherspoon (3) | Madison Square Garden | 0–1 |- | 2 | August 31 | @ Los Angeles | L 66–69 | Phillips Whitmore (17) | Tari Phillips (8) | Teresa Weatherspoon (5) | Staples Center | 0–2
Season standings
Statistics
Regular season Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG Crystal Robinson 32 32 33.4 .417 .370 .819 2.8 2.5 1.5 0.4 11.8 Vickie Johnson 31 31 33.2 .456 .421 .803 3.5 2.8 0.9 0.1 11.6 Tari Phillips 32 31 31.5 .491 .000 .675 7.0 1.3 1.8 0.4 14.1 Tamika Whitmore 32 32 30.5 .477 .000 .733 4.4 0.7 0.8 1.3 12.7 Teresa Weatherspoon 32 32 29.8 .342 .100 .519 2.7 5.7 1.3 0.1 3.4 Becky Hammon 32 1 20.6 .442 .386 .679 2.1 1.7 0.8 0.0 8.0 Sue Wicks 30 0 14.3 .343 .000 .667 3.4 0.5 0.7 0.5 2.2 Korie Hlede 16 0 8.1 .423 .000 .444 1.0 0.8 0.4 0.1 1.6 Camille Cooper 23 1 5.2 .393 N/A .625 0.7 0.1 0.2 0.2 1.2 Linda Fröhlich 16 0 4.2 .100 .000 1.000 0.8 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.4 Bernadette Ngoyisa 7 0 1.7 .600 N/A N/A 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.9 ‡Waived/Released during the season †Traded during the season ≠Acquired during the season
References