An original
WNBA team. The Monarchs play in
Arco Arena in
Sacramento, and their sibling
NBA team is the
Sacramento Kings.
The Monarchs boast a strong
nucleus — forward
Yolanda Griffith, guard
Ruthie Bolton and guard
Ticha Penicheiro have all been on the team since the
1999 season — but they've never been able to put it together for a championship run. The farthest the Monarchs have gotten in the playoffs was a 2001 trip to the conference finals, where they lost to the eventual WNBA champion
Los Angeles Sparks.
They ought to do better. Penicheiro is certainly the best point guard in the WNBA, as she's led the league in
assists in each of the four years she's played. Griffin was the WNBA's
Rookie of the Year,
Defensive Player of the Year and
MVP in 1999. Bolton is a talented off-guard, but she's 35 years old and was hampered by bad
knees in the 2001 season.
A key moment in the 2001 season came when coach
Sonny Allen unexpectedly quit.
Maura McHugh, the former coach of the
Long Beach StingRays of the defunct
American Basketball League, took over on the fly and guided the team to a 14-6 record under her leadership. But the Sparks defeated the Monarchs in the
Western Conference Finals, two games to one.
Sources: http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/monarchs/
http://www.wnba.com/monarchs/