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.
See also: 2001 WNBA draft.
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Penny Taylor | Dandenong Rangers (Australia) | ||
| 2 | 27 | Jaynetta Saunders | Texas A&M | ||
| 3 | 43 | Angelina Wolvert | Oregon | ||
| 4 | 59 | Erin Batth | Clemson |
| Date | Transaction | |
|---|---|---|
| April 20, 2001 | Drafted Penny Taylor, Jaynetta Saunders, Angelina Wolvert and Erin Batth in the 2001 WNBA Draft[1] | |
| April 30, 2001 | Signed Jessica Zinobile, Kim Williams, Rhonda Blades and Rhonda Smith | |
| May 8, 2001 | Waived Kim Williams and Rhonda Smith | |
| May 11, 2001 | Waived Rhonda Blades | |
| May 22, 2001 | Waived Erin Batth | |
| May 27, 2001 | Traded Jaynetta Saunders to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for a 2002 2nd Round Pick | |
| Traded a 2002 3rd Round Pick to the Detroit Shock in exchange for Jennifer Rizzotti | ||
| Waived Jessica Zinobile | ||
| Suspended contracts of Ann Wauters and Rushia Brown | ||
| June 1, 2001 | Waived Angelina Wolvert | |
| June 16, 2001 | Waived Adia Barnes | |
| July 10, 2001 | Waived Vicki Hall | |
| July 12, 2001 | Waived Paige Sauer | |
|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 1| May 31| Washington| W 69–34| Merlakia Jones (17)| Pollyanna Johns Kimbrough (10)| Chasity Melvin (5)| Gund Arena| 1–0|- style="background:#fcc;"| 2| June 2| @ Sacramento| L 65–70| Penny Taylor (19)| Jones
Melvin (7)| Andrade
Taylor (4)| ARCO Arena| 1–1|- style="background:#fcc;"| 3| June 5| @ Los Angeles| L 50–58| Merlakia Jones (18)| Merlakia Jones (12)| Helen Darling (8)| Staples Center| 1–2|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 4| June 7| New York| W 67–49| Jones
Melvin (13)| Merlakia Jones (8)| Merlakia Jones (6)| Gund Arena| 2–2|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 5| June 9| Indiana| W 86–76| Chasity Melvin (22)| Brown
Jones (6)| Chasity Melvin (5)| Gund Arena| 3–2|- style="background:#fcc;"| 6| June 12| @ Portland| L 62–67| Penny Taylor (11)| Merlakia Jones (7)| Andrade
Jones (4)| Rose Garden| 3–3|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 7| June 14| @ Seattle| W 58–36| Chasity Melvin (16)| Chasity Melvin (10)| Mery Andrade (6)| KeyArena| 4–3|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 8| June 16| Miami| W 70–53| Merlakia Jones (18)| Chasity Melvin (11)| Andrade
Jones (5)| Gund Arena| 5–3|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 9| June 17| @ Washington| W 57–55| Merlakia Jones (17)| Chasity Melvin (12)| Mery Andrade (6)| MCI Center| 6–3|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 10| June 22| Los Angeles| W 74–70| Merlakia Jones (26)| Chasity Melvin (7)| Helen Darling (4)| Gund Arena| 7–3|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 11| June 24| @ Miami| W 54–35| Chasity Melvin (11)| Merlakia Jones (9)| Jennifer Rizzotti (4)| American Airlines Arena| 8–3|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 12| June 26| Portland| W 61–57| Merlakia Jones (20)| Taylor
Wauters (6)| Helen Darling (5)| Gund Arena| 9–3|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 13| June 27| @ Orlando| W 65–41| Chasity Melvin (12)| Hall
Melvin
Taylor (5)| Helen Darling (8)| TD Waterhouse Centre| 10–3|- style="background:#fcc;"| 14| June 30| @ Charlotte| L 55–58| Rushia Brown (16)| Merlakia Jones (7)| Darling
Jones
Melvin (3)| Charlotte Coliseum| 10–4|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 15| July 1| Minnesota| W 52–47| Merlakia Jones (13)| Merlakia Jones (6)| Helen Darling (6)| Gund Arena| 11–4|- style="background:#fcc;"| 16| July 6| @ Utah| L 69–73| Jones
Melvin (13)| Chasity Melvin (8)| Mery Andrade (4)| Delta Center| 11–5 |- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 17| July 8| @ Houston| W 63–53| Helen Darling (18)| Rushia Brown (11)| Helen Darling (7)| Compaq Center| 12–5|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 18| July 10| Seattle| W 59–53| Rushia Brown (18)| Rushia Brown (8)| Brown
Darling
Rizzotti (4)| Gund Arena| 13–5 |- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 19| July 11| @ Indiana| W 76–58| Darling
Taylor (14)| Pollyanna Johns Kimbrough (5)| Jennifer Rizzotti (7)| Conseco Fieldhouse| 14–5 |- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 20| July 13| Phoenix| W 69–61| Merlakia Jones (22)| Merlakia Jones (11)| Darling
Rizzotti (3)| Gund Arena| 15–5 |- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 21| July 19| New York| W 65–60| Ann Wauters (19)| Brown
Jones (9)| Helen Darling (6)| Gund Arena| 16–5|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 22| July 21| Charlotte| W 56–41| Ann Wauters (15)| Brown
Jones (6)| Helen Darling (4)| Gund Arena| 17–5|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 23| July 25| Miami| W 52–48 (OT)| Rushia Brown (15)| Ann Wauters (10)| Mery Andrade (5)| Gund Arena| 18–5|- style="background:#fcc;"| 24| July 27| Indiana| L 63–67| Rushia Brown (20)| Jones
Taylor (7)| Mery Andrade (7)| Gund Arena| 18–6|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 25| July 28| @ Detroit| W 57–50| Merlakia Jones (12)| Ann Wauters (8)| Helen Darling (2)| The Palace of Auburn Hills| 19–6|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 26| July 30| Orlando| W 65–46| Helen Darling (16)| Rushia Brown (8)| Helen Darling (5)| Charlotte Coliseum| 20–6|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 27| August 4| @ New York| W 58–43| Ann Wauters (14)| Merlakia Jones (11)| Rushia Brown (3)| Madison Square Garden| 21–6|- style="background:#fcc;"| 28| August 7| @ Orlando| L 67–74| Merlakia Jones (20)| Rushia Brown (7)| Mery Andrade (5)| TD Waterhouse Centre| 21–7|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 29| August 8| Detroit| W 73–66| Jones
Taylor (14)| Jones
Wauters (7)| Andrade
Melvin (4)| Gund Arena| 22–7|- style="background:#fcc;"| 30| August 10| Charlotte| L 53–55| Merlakia Jones (15)| Ann Wauters (10)| Ann Wauters (5)| Gund Arena| 22–8|- style="background:#fcc;"| 31| August 12| @ Washington| L 49–57| Chasity Melvin (13)| Chasity Melvin (10)| Helen Darling (4)| MCI Center| 22–9|- style="background:#fcc;"| 32| August 14| @ Detroit| L 65–76| Penny Taylor (21)| Ann Wauters (8)| Mery Andrade (5)| The Palace of Auburn Hills| 22–10
|- style="background:#fcc;"| 1| August 16| @ Charlotte| L 46–53| Ann Wauters (12)| Merlakia Jones (7)| Merlakia Jones (7)| Charlotte Coliseum| 0–1|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 2| August 18| Charlotte| W 69–51| Merlakia Jones (19)| Merlakia Jones (7)| Darling
Rizzotti (6)| Gund Arena| 1–1|- style="background:#fcc;"| 3| August 20| Charlotte| L 64–72| Merlakia Jones (13)| Helen Darling (5)| Helen Darling (10)| Gund Arena| 1–2
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merlakia Jones | 30 | 30 | 33.3 | .438 | .265 | .793 | 5.5 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 13.5 |
| Mery Andrade | 32 | 32 | 27.9 | .339 | .200 | .667 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 4.8 |
| Chasity Melvin | 27 | 20 | 27.9 | .474 | 1.000 | .698 | 5.7 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 9.9 |
| Ann Wauters | 24 | 14 | 25.9 | .569 | .000 | .800 | 4.8 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 9.8 |
| Rushia Brown | 30 | 24 | 25.3 | .518 | 1.000 | .730 | 4.4 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 8.3 |
| Helen Darling | 32 | 32 | 24.3 | .355 | .329 | .764 | 2.4 | 3.4 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 6.1 |
| Penny Taylor | 32 | 0 | 17.5 | .382 | .301 | .783 | 3.5 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 7.2 |
| Vicki Hall | 14 | 6 | 16.1 | .409 | .318 | .500 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 4.6 |
| Jennifer Rizzotti | 32 | 0 | 14.9 | .382 | .384 | .636 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 3.7 |
| Eva Němcová | 8 | 2 | 14.1 | .342 | .200 | .625 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 4.3 |
| Pollyanna Johns Kimbrough | 18 | 0 | 6.6 | .444 | N/A | .444 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.6 |
| Tricia Bader Binford | 19 | 0 | 6.0 | .400 | .385 | N/A | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| Angelina Wolvert | 1 | 0 | 5.0 | .333 | N/A | N/A | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Paige Sauer | 2 | 0 | 2.0 | .333 | N/A | N/A | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| Adia Barnes | 3 | 0 | 1.0 | 1.000 | N/A | N/A | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 |