San Jose Lasers - San José Sports Chronicle

The San Jose Lasers were a professional women’s basketball team that played in the American Basketball League (ABL). Their home court was the San Jose State Event Center Arena and San Jose Arena, now the SAP Center. The Lasers played three seasons from 1996 to 1999.

San Jose Lasers 1996-97 Season

In their first year Sheri Sam (Vanderbilt) led the Lasers with 561 points and Coach Jan Lowrey led the team to a 18-22 record and second place in the Western division. The team came up against eventual champs Columbus Quest and took a first-round exit, going 0-2. Former Stanford star Sonja Henning added 126 assists and 90 steals.

1996-97 Lasers Stats

Player	Pos.	Birth Date	Ht	Wt	College	GP	GS	Min	FGM	FGA	3PM	3PA	FTM	FTA	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Pts
Sheri Sam	F-G	May 5, 1974	6’0″	160	Vanderbilt	39	34	1258	210	487	36	117	105	146	210	117	75	5	125	118	561
Val Whiting-Raymond	C-F	April 9, 1972	6’2″	199	Stanford	37	33	1098	160	375	3	11	141	202	239	49	77	50	77	86	464
Trisha Stafford-Odom	F	November 11, 1970	6’1″	180	California	37	18	907	125	313	27	81	148	183	166	85	69	6	110	93	425
Anita Kaplan	C	April 22, 1973	6’5″	180	Stanford	40	37	973	174	346	0	0	51	93	201	33	12	15	65	140	399
Sonja Henning	G	October 4, 1969	5’7″	143	Stanford	40	40	1515	107	270	17	62	68	101	210	126	90	7	95	115	299
Shelley Gorman-Sandie	G	January 22, 1969	6’0″	145		20	18	618	67	187	10	38	51	62	61	36	15	2	64	42	195
Jennifer Azzi	G	August 31, 1968	5’8″	143	Stanford	11	11	416	57	100	17	41	52	61	38	52	20	2	34	32	183
Jamillah Lang	F	June 23, 1972	6’0″	185	Colorado	29	0	254	43	118	16	50	26	41	46	8	8	1	17	30	128
Jenni Ruff	G-F	September 12, 1974	5’11”	140	Washington State	35	6	433	35	112	12	32	38	42	61	42	12	4	67	63	120
Kimberly Wood	C	September 16, 1972	6’4″		Wisconsin-Green Bay	32	0	355	29	59	0	0	40	67	91	10	10	7	25	49	98
Samantha Williams	G-F	September 24, 1973	6’0″		Auburn	25	3	241	17	68	5	24	9	10	29	19	8	2	31	25	48
Nekeshia Henderson	G	February 28, 1973	5’8″	144	Texas	6	0	11	0	6	0	4	0	0	1	2	1	0	4	2	0
Ingrid Dixson	C	September 16, 1972	6’3″		California	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

San Jose Lasers 1997-98 Season

In their second season Stanford and Team USA alumnae Jennifer Azzi became the Lasers’ featured player and led scoring with 649 points. New coach Angela Beck guided the team to another losing year with a 21-23 record but did advance to a second-round playoff exit. In the playoffs the Lasers beat the New England Blizzard 2-0 to advance to the semifinals. Again the Lasers met the Columbus Quest losing the series 0-2 to the repeat champs.

1997-98 Lasers Stats

Player	Pos.	GP	GS	Min	FGM	FGA	3PM	3PA	FTM	FTA	Off	Def	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Pts
Jennifer Azzi	G	44	44	1588	204	462	45	126	196	230	24	111	135	219	81	8	136	132	649
Sheri Sam	F-G	43	42	1391	238	550	50	127	98	154	102	203	305	109	87	7	123	126	624
Charlotte Smith	F	42	38	1206	187	383	4	28	135	183	110	142	252	90	32	18	138	131	513
Clarisse Machanguana	C-F	44	23	938	153	264	0	0	97	162	77	126	203	33	46	10	80	132	403
Kedra Holland-Corn	G	43	27	1051	130	315	45	134	70	93	38	68	106	97	96	6	109	102	375
Katryna Gaither	C	44	15	673	104	200	0	0	70	94	57	98	155	9	31	14	53	76	278
Shelley Gorman-Sandie	G	44	4	650	83	196	20	52	61	68	21	80	101	30	27	0	61	60	247
Anita Kaplan	C	40	10	449	61	133	0	0	22	44	22	52	74	7	8	11	41	79	144
Sonja Henning	G	44	16	812	37	117	11	35	20	40	33	63	96	73	42	0	60	60	105
Kisa Bradley	F-C	25	0	85	13	30	3	8	19	19	1	16	17	0	4	2	14	14	48
Laurie Byrd	G	28	1	82	10	17	0	1	13	18	0	4	4	10	1	0	12	5	33

San Jose Lasers 1998-99 Season

In the middle of the 98-99 season the ABL folded; the same year the WNBA began play. The two leagues only competed directly with each other during the 1998-99 season. The NBA-funded WNBA survived and is now thriving. The Lasers finished the short season 9-6 record. Jennifer Azzi had 217 points and 72 assists.

1989-99 Lasers Stats

Player	Pos.	GP	GS	Min	FGM	FGA	3PM	3PA	FTM	FTA	Off	Def	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Pts
Kedra Holland-Corn	G	15	15	522	69	149	19	52	63	80	22	40	62	33	21	7	50	42	220
Jennifer Azzi	G	15	15	560	67	140	8	24	75	86	12	42	54	72	25	2	43	40	217
Sheri Sam	F-G	15	14	470	87	181	10	35	19	34	25	63	88	36	27	2	56	45	203
Clarisse Machanguana	C-F	15	15	435	74	134	0	0	53	78	28	54	82	27	24	4	30	55	201
Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil	F	15	14	396	62	150	12	44	48	60	29	54	83	14	19	7	47	50	184
Charlotte Smith	F	13	2	267	33	78	4	16	29	37	18	29	47	21	2	3	24	31	99
Katryna Gaither	C	15	0	199	23	54	0	0	15	21	23	26	49	3	6	2	13	31	61
Anna DeForge	G	15	0	155	16	41	5	20	9	11	5	13	18	10	5	1	13	18	46
Pam Hudson	F	8	0	20	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	5	6	3	2	1	1	3	2
LaToya Doage	G	13	0	51	1	4	0	0	0	1	2	2	4	2	4	1	8	9	2

The Lasers’ owner Joe Lacob, who also owns the Golden State Warriors, was granted a WNBA expansion team in 2023, now called the Golden State Valkyries and began play in 2025.

Jennifer Azzi went on to compete for several years in the WNBA, along with Sheri Sam and other ABL athletes.

Seasons

Year	Record	Outcome	Venue	League	Coach
1996-1997	18-22	Semi-finals	SJ Event Center/ SJ Arena	ABL	Jan Lowrey
1997-1998	21-23	Semi-finals	SJ Event Center/ SJ Arena	ABL	Angela Beck
1998-1999	9-6	Short Season	SJ Event Center/ SJ Arena	ABL	Angela Beck

The San Jose Lasers played three seasons in the ABL.

SAN JOSE, CA – 1997: Jennifer Azzi #8 of the San Jose Lasers plays in an American Basketball League game in 1997 at the San Jose Arena in San Jose, California. (Photo by David Madison/Getty Images)

San Jose Lasers jersey.