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Portland Power (basketball)

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Team history
  
1996-1998 (2 seasons)

Championships
  
none

Color
  
Blue and Green

Folded
  
1998

Colors
  
Blue and Green

Founded
  
1996

Based in
  
Portland

Portland Power (basketball) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenthumb3

League
  
American Basketball League

Head coach
  
Greg Bruce (1996)Lin Dunn (1997-1998)Missy Bequette (assistant coach)

Manager
  
Linda Weston (General Manager)

Arena
  
Veterans Memorial Coliseum (capacity 10,934)

The Portland Power was a women's professional basketball team in the American Basketball League (ABL) based in Portland, Oregon. The Power began play in 1996, and disbanded when the ABL folded at the end of 1998.

Contents

1996-97 season

The Power's first head coach was Greg Bruce, who had previously been the head women's basketball coach at Portland State. The Power's first roster included:

  • Lisa Harrison, forward for Tennessee's 1991 national championship team
  • Michelle Marciniak, guard for Tennessee's 1996 national championship team
  • Katy Steding, Portland native, 1996 basketball Olympic gold medalist, and forward for Stanford's 1990 national championship team
  • Coquese Washington, guard for Notre Dame
  • Natalie Williams, center for UCLA's basketball team and volleyball national championship teams in 1990 and 1991

    • The Power got off to a miserable start, going 5-17 under Bruce, who resigned on New Year's Day 1997 and was replaced by former Purdue coach Lin Dunn. Under Dunn, the Power managed to go 9-9 the rest of the first season, and finished last in the Western Conference.

    1997-98 season

    In their second season, the Power showed much improvement. The team acquired Sylvia Crawley from North Carolina's 1994 national championship team and Delisha Milton from Florida among other players, and won the Western Conference. Coach Dunn was named ABL Coach of the Year, and Williams was named the league's MVP. In the playoffs, the team met the conference runner-up, the Long Beach Stingrays, and lost 2 games to 0.

    1998-99 season

    For their third season, the Power acquired Steding's former Stanford teammate, point guard Sonja Henning. Though they got off to a slow start, the Power was leading the Western Conference after completing a five-game win streak when the ABL abruptly folded due to financial difficulties on December 22, 1998.

    At the time of their demise, the Power's starting lineup was:

  • Katy Steding, forward
  • Delisha Milton, forward
  • Natalie Williams, center
  • Elaine Powell, guard
  • Sonja Henning, guard

    • After the franchise folded, many Power players went on to continue their careers in the WNBA.

    ABL statistical leaders

    1997-98 season:

  • Natalie Williams, 1st in ABL in scoring (913 points, 21.7 points per game)
  • Natalie Williams, 2nd in ABL in rebounding (477 rebounds, 11.4 rebounds per game)
  • Natalie Williams, 1st in ABL in field goal percentage (336 of 604, .556 average)
  • Natalie Williams, 4th in ABL in blocks (47 blocks, 1.1 blocks per game)

    • 1998 season (partial):

  • Natalie Williams, 2nd in ABL in scoring (258 points, 19.9 points per game)
  • Natalie Williams, 2nd in ABL in field goals percentage (94 of 162 .580 average)
  • Katy Steding, 1st in ABL in three-point goals (32 of 74 .432 average)
  • Natalie Williams, 2nd in ABL in rebounding (129 rebounds, 9.9 rebounds per game)
  • Sonja Henning, 2nd in ABL in assists (78 assists, 6.0 per game)

    • All-Star players

  • Natalie Williams (First Team All-ABL, 1996-97 and 1997-98)

    • League honors

  • Natalie Williams, 1997-98 ABL Most Valuable Player
  • Lin Dunn, 1997-98 ABL Coach of the Year

    • References

    Portland Power (basketball) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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