The Sacramento Monarchs
is a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Sacramento, California. The team is one of the WNBA's eight original franchises and was noted early on for standout players Ticha Penicheiro, Ruthie Bolton and Yolanda Griffith.
While the Monarchs have been one of the more successful WNBA franchises, they have often trailed behind perennial Western Conference champions the Houston Comets and the Los Angeles Sparks. However, in 2005, the team brought Sacramento its first major championship in a professional sport, winning the WNBA Finals for the first time.
The team name has a double meaning. In one sense it is named after the Monarch butterfly (and you can see a suggestion of butterfly wings in the logo) and in addition the monarch is "a person or thing that holds a dominant position", or is "the hereditary ruler of a kingdom" and so on. As the name "Monarchs" suggests, they are the sister team of the Sacramento Kings.
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SACRAMENTO MONARCHS TICKETS
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Franchise history
One of the Original Eight (1997-2003)
The Monarchs made an impact in the WNBA almost immediately. With the hiring of
Portuguese national team player
Ticha Penicheiro, popular player
Ruthie Bolton and prolific scorer
Yolanda Griffith, all of whom have been
WNBA All-Stars, the Monarchs have been able to make the playoffs almost every year so far, but were normally eliminated before reaching the
WNBA Finals.
Monarchs Start to Gain Control (2004-2006)
After losing to the
Seattle Storm in the
2004 WNBA Western Conference Championship, the Monarchs made major roster moves to improve the team - obtaining younger players and emphasizing Head Coach John Whisenant's defense-oriented system. Bolton, one of the team's original players, became a
free agent and the Monarchs made the difficult decision not to keep her on the active playing roster, though they did offer her a position in their front office.
Edna Campbell, a
breast cancer survivor and another fan favorite, was not signed by the Monarchs and later signed with the
San Antonio Silver Stars.
On
March 3,
2005, the Monarchs traded
Tangela Smith and a
2006 second round
draft pick to the
Charlotte Sting in exchange for former
Stanford University standout
Nicole Powell,
Olympia Scott-Richardson, and
Erin Buescher. After signing two
Chinese players,
Miao Lijie and
Sui Feifei, the Monarchs traded
Chantelle Anderson to the
San Antonio Silver Stars for a
2006 draft pick. During the
2005 WNBA Draft, the Monarchs drafted
point guard Kristin Haynie from
Michigan State University and Chelsea Newton from
Rutgers University. The Monarchs did sign
Ruthie Bolton as a
free agent for the purpose of her trying to win a spot on team's roster during its pre-season training camp, but eventually waived her. Bolton later joined the Monarchs to work in their promotions and
public relations department.
The offseason moves immediately paid off for the Monarchs as the team finished with a franchise-best 25-9 win/loss record. Whisenant was later named the
WNBA Coach of the Year, and Powell received the
WNBA Most Improved Player Award. After previous seasons of being eliminated from the WNBA Playoffs by either the
Houston Comets or the
Los Angeles Sparks, the Monarchs finally defeated both, sweeping both teams en route to their first appearance in the
WNBA Finals. The Monarchs won their first ever WNBA Finals by defeating the
Connecticut Sun, three games to one in a
best-of-five playoff series, which brought the city of Sacramento its first major championship in a professional sport. After winning the championship, the Monarchs became the first women's professional team to appear on a Wheaties box.
The Monarchs remained strong in 2006, finishing second place in the West. The Monarchs would catch fire in the playoffs, once again sweeping both Houston and then top seeded LA to reach the Finals for the second straight season. But in the Finals, they were defeated by the
Detroit Shock 3 games to 2, in the first WNBA Finals to go 5 games.
Return to Mediocrity (2007-present)
In 2007, the Monarchs finished strongly again, but blew a chance to get the #2 seed at the end of the season. They were matched up against the
San Antonio Silver Stars. After defeating the Silver Stars in game 1 at home, the Monarchs would lose games 2 & 3 (and the series) in San Antonio, ending their two-year run as Western Conference champions.
In 2008 the Monarchs were markedly less strong, but hung around the Western Playoff picture all season and finished with the #4 seed. Facing the Silver Stars again in the first round, the Monarchs were hoping for some payback for 2007. The series did not start well for the Monarchs, as they dropped Game 1 at home 85-78. Now the series shifted to San Antonio, and it seemed the series would come to a quick end. But the Monarchs would not back down, blowing out the Silver Stars in Game 2 84-67, forcing the critical Game 3. In Game 3, the Stars came out strong and at one point had a 14 point lead. But the Monarchs put together a furious rally, scoring seven points in the final 90 seconds of play to even the game and force it to overtime. But unfortunately for the Monarchs, the Silver Stars came out strong in the extra period and won the game, 86-81, ending the Monarchs' season.
By the
2009 All-Star break, the Monarchs had the worst record in the league. They started the season 1-8 and head coach
Jenny Boucek was soon relieved of her duties. But the struggles did not stop there; in
John Whisenant's (the man who led the team to the trophy in 2005) first game as head coach, the Monarchs were blown out by
Phoenix, a team they beat previously in the season.
Season-by-season records
| Season
| Team
| Conference
| Regular season
| Playoff Results
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| W
| L
| PCT
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| Sacramento Monarchs
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| 1997
| 1997
| West
| 3rd
| 10
| 18
| .357
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| 1998
| 1998
| West
| 4th
| 8
| 22
| .267
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| 1999
| 1999
| West
| 3rd
| 19
| 13
| .594
| Lost
Conference Semifinals (Los Angeles, 0-1)
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| 2000
| 2000
| West
| 3rd
| 21
| 11
| .656
| Lost
Conference Semifinals (Houston, 0–2)
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| 2001
| 2001
| West
| 2nd
| 20
| 12
| .625
| Won
Conference Semifinals (Utah, 2-0)
Lost
Conference Finals (Los Angeles, 1-2)
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| 2002
| 2002
| West
| 5th
| 14
| 18
| .438
|
|
| 2003
| 2003
| West
| 3rd
| 19
| 15
| .559
| Won
Conference Semifinals (Houston, 2-1)
Lost
Conference Finals (Los Angeles, 1-2)
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| 2004
| 2004
| West
| 4th
| 18
| 16
| .529
| Won
Conference Semifinals (Los Angeles, 2-1)
Lost
Conference Finals (Seattle, 1-2)
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| 2005
| 2005
| West
| 1st
| 25
| 9
| .765
| Won
Conference Semifinals (Los Angeles, 2-0)
Won
Conference Finals (Houston, 2-0)
Won
WNBA Finals (Connecticut, 3-1)
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| 2006
| 2006
| West
| 2nd
| 21
| 13
| .618
| Won
Conference Semifinals (Houston, 2-0)
Won
Conference Finals (Los Angeles, 2-0)
Lost
WNBA Finals (Detroit, 2-3)
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| 2007
| 2007
| West
| 3rd
| 19
| 15
| .559
| Lost
Conference Semifinals (San Antonio, 1-2)
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| 2008
| 2008
| West
| 4th
| 18
| 16
| .529
| Lost
Conference Semifinals (San Antonio, 1-2)
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| 2009
| 2009
| West
| 6th
| 9
| 18
| .333
| TBD
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| Regular season
| 212
| 180
| .540
| 2 Conference Championships
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| Playoffs
| 24
| 19
| .558
| 1 WNBA Championship
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Players and coaches
Current roster
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Head coaches
- Mary Murphy (1997), now a color commentator for Pac-10 women's basketball games on Fox Sports Net in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Heidi VanDerveer (1997-1998), now the head coach at Occidental College
- Sonny Allen (1999-2000)
- Maura McHugh (2001-2003)
- John Whisenant (2003-2006)
- Jenny Boucek (2007-2009)
- John Whisenant (2009-present)
General managers
- Jerry Reynolds
- John Whisenant
Hall of Famers
- Bridgette Gordon
- Heather Burge
Retired numbers
- 6 Ruthie Bolton
- GM Jerry Reynolds, the Monarchs' first General Manager, has a retired jersey marked "GM", that was hung onto the ARCO Arena's rafters in 2004.
Former players
- Chantelle Anderson
- Cass Bauer-Bilodeau
- Cindy Blodgett, now the Head Coach at University of Maine
- Erin Buescher, now a member of the San Antonio Silver Stars
- Latasha Byears
- Edna Campbell
- Bridgette Gordon
- Lady Grooms, now a scout for the Monarchs
- Yolanda Griffith
- Kristin Haynie, now a member of the Detroit Shock
- Kedra Holland-Corn
- Pamela McGee
- Laure Savasta
- Olympia Scott-Richardson
- Tangela Smith, now a member of the Phoenix Mercury
- Kate Starbird
- Katy Steding
- Chantel Tremitiere
- Kara Wolters
- Adrian Williams-Strong
All-Stars
- 1999
: Ticha Penicheiro, Ruthie Bolton-Holifield
- 2000
: Ticha Penicheiro, Yolanda Griffith
- 2001
: Ticha Penicheiro, Ruthie Bolton-Holifield, Yolanda Griffith
- 2002
: Ticha Penicheiro
- 2003
: Yolanda Griffith
- 2004
: None but Yolanda Griffith on USA Olympic Team
- 2005
: Yolanda Griffith, DeMya Walker
- 2006
: Yolanda Griffith
- 2007
: Yolanda Griffith, Kara Lawson, Rebekkah Brunson
- 2008
: No All-Star Game
- 2009
: Nicole Powell
Links
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| Eastern Conference
| Western Conference
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| Atlanta Dream
| Indiana Fever
| Los Angeles Sparks
| Sacramento Monarchs
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| Chicago Sky
| New York Liberty
| Minnesota Lynx
| San Antonio Silver Stars
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| Connecticut Sun
| Washington Mystics
| Phoenix Mercury
| Seattle Storm
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| Detroit Shock
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| Annual events
: Playoffs · Finals · All-Star Game · Draft
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| Other
: All-Decade Team · Arenas · WNBA Career Scoring · Expansion Draft History · Finals broadcasters · List of players · MVP · Rookie of the Year · Seasons · WNBA on ESPN
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