Sacramento Monarchs

The team was one of the WNBA's eight original franchises and was noted early on for standout players Ticha Penicheiro, Ruthie Bolton and Yolanda Griffith. The team folded on November 20, 2009. The franchise may be re-located to the San Francisco Bay area.
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.


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 second 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 (2007-2009)
In 2007, the Monarchs finished strongly again, but blew a chance to get the #2 seed at the end of the season.But the Monarchs would not back down, blowing out the Silver Stars in Game 2 84-67, forcing the critical Game 3. 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.

It also led to the firing of head coach Jenny Boucek during the season, which she was replaced by John Whisenant, the coach that led the Monarchs to their first championship in 2005. They also missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2002 season and tied the record for the most number of losses with 22, the same number of losses they made 11 years ago.
The End of the Monarchs Era
After the 2009 season, it was revealed on November 20, 2009 that the Maloof family would no longer operate the Monarchs.

The league is trying to seek a new location near the Bay Area for the franchise.
Season-by-season records
Players and coaches
Final roster


Head coach

John Whisenant (New Mexico State)

Assistant coach(es)

Tom Abatemarco (Dowling College)
Monique Ambers (Arizona State)

Strength and conditioning coach(es)

Jimmy Duba (Connecticut)

Athletic trainer(s)

Jill Jackson (Sacramento State)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(IN) Inactive
(S) Suspended

Injured

Roster
Last transaction: 2009-09-09

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)
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, retired.
Cass Bauer-Bilodeau
Cindy Blodgett, now the Head Coach at University of Maine
Erin Buescher, a member of the San Antonio Silver Starsin 2009.