On August 30, 1997, the Houston Comets made WNBA history.
Twenty-nine years ago today, Houston defeated the New York Liberty 65-51 at The Summit to capture the first championship in league history, closing out the WNBA’s inaugural season with a performance built around elite defense and another brilliant night from Cynthia Cooper.
The championship format looked very different from the multi-game Finals series that would later become standard. In 1997, the semifinal and championship rounds were single-elimination games. Houston reached the title game by defeating the Charlotte Sting 70-54 on August 28, while New York advanced with a 59-41 victory over the Phoenix Mercury. Two days later, the Comets and Liberty met with the league’s first championship at stake.
Houston controlled the decisive game and limited New York to just 51 points. The Liberty struggled to generate consistent offense against a Comets defense that had established itself as one of the defining strengths of the team. Kym Hampton led New York with 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Rebecca Lobo finished with nine points and nine rebounds.
At the other end, Cooper once again became the central figure.
Already named the WNBA’s first regular-season MVP, Cooper scored 25 points in the championship game and was named the league’s first Finals MVP. Her postseason dominance was not confined to one night, either. Cooper averaged 28.0 points across Houston’s two playoff games and finished the postseason with 56 points, comfortably establishing herself as the offensive force behind the Comets’ title run.
The championship became the beginning of something much larger.
Houston’s victory over New York launched the first dynasty in WNBA history. The Comets would go on to win the league’s first four championships from 1997 through 2000, with Cooper becoming one of the defining stars of the WNBA’s formative years.
But all of it started on August 30, 1997.
Before there were decades of Finals series, legendary rivalries and generations of WNBA stars, there was one championship game in Houston, and Cynthia Cooper and the Comets were the first team ever to walk away as champions.
