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The Columbus Quest was a professional
women's basketball
Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college compet ...
franchise located in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
, in the now-defunct
American Basketball League (ABL). They were one of the league's original eight teams that started play in 1996. In the league's brief history, the Quest was its most successful franchise, winning both championships the league awarded.
The Quest's head coach was
Brian Agler
Brian Agler (born August 2, 1958) is an American college athletics administrator and former women's basketball coach. He is the athletic director at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, a position he has held since 2021. Agler served as ...
, who finished with a record of 82–22 during the team's two-plus seasons of existence. After Agler left the Quest midseason to become the head coach of the
WNBA's
Minnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team won the WNBA ...
, the team was coached by player-coach
Tonya Edwards
Tonya LaRay Edwards (born March 13, 1968) is an American retired professional basketball player born in Flint, Michigan, who was most recently an assistant coach of the Chicago Sky in the WNBA. She was previously head coach of the Alcorn State ...
[The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...]
- PLUS: PRO BASKETBALL -- A.B.L.; Edwards Wins Debut As a Player-Coach">
. Many of the Quest's players later played for the Lynx, including Edwards,
Katie Smith
Katie Smith (born June 4, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes women's basketball team. She is the former head coach of the New York Liberty.
A retired professional baske ...
,
Andrea Lloyd-Curry, Angie Potthoff and
Shanele Stires.
The Quest played their home games at the
Greater Columbus Convention Center
The Greater Columbus Convention Center (GCCC) is the primary convention center of downtown Columbus, Ohio, United States, along the east side of North High Street (Columbus, Ohio), High Street.
The convention center was predominantly designed by ...
in
Battelle Hall
Battelle Hall (originally known as the Ohio Center) is a 6,864 seat multi-purpose exhibit hall located in Columbus, Ohio, part of the Greater Columbus Convention Center. It opened as the Ohio Center on September 10, 1980, and although sometimes c ...
. Despite being the league's most successful team, they had the league's lowest average attendance for all three years of the ABL's existence.
Season-By-Season
1996–97
*Finished 31–9, won Eastern Conference by 10 games
*Defeated
San Jose Lasers in Semifinals 2–0 (best of 3)
**Game 1 at San Jose: Columbus 94, San Jose 69
**Game 2 at Columbus: Columbus 81, San Jose 69
*Defeated
Richmond Rage in Championship 3–2 (best of 5)
**Game 1 at Columbus: Columbus 90, Richmond 89
**Game 2 at Columbus: Richmond 75, Columbus 62
**Game 3 at Richmond: Richmond 72, Columbus 67
**Game 4 at Richmond: Columbus 95, Richmond 84
**Game 5 at Columbus: Columbus 77, Richmond 64
*
Nikki McCray
Nikki Kesangane McCray-Penson (; December 17, 1971 – July 7, 2023) was an American basketball player and coach. She was the head coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs women's basketball team from 2020 to 2021 and a professional basketball pl ...
named Most Valuable Player
*Brian Agler named Coach of the Year
*
Valerie Still
Valerie Still (born 1961) is an American former professional women's basketball player with the Washington Mystics of the WNBA and the Columbus Quest of the American Basketball League (ABL).
During her four years at the University of Kentuck ...
named Playoffs Most Valuable Player
1997–98
*Finished 36–8, won Eastern Conference by 12 games
*Defeated
San Jose Lasers in Semifinals 2–0 (best of 3)
**Game 1 at Columbus: Columbus 94, San Jose 88
**Game 2 at San Jose: Columbus 74, San Jose 62
*Defeated
Long Beach Stingrays in Championship 3–2 (best of 5)
**Game 1 at Long Beach: Long Beach 65, Columbus 62
**Game 2 at Long Beach: Long Beach 71, Columbus 61
**Game 3 at Columbus: Columbus 70, Long Beach 61
**Game 4 at Columbus: Columbus 68, Long Beach 53
**Game 5 at Columbus: Columbus 86, Long Beach 81
*Valerie Still named Playoffs Most Valuable Player
1998–99
*Finished 11–3, leading Eastern Conference by 2 games
References
{{reflist
American Basketball League (1996–1998) teams
Defunct basketball teams in the United States
Basketball teams established in 1996
Basketball teams in Ohio
Basketball teams disestablished in 1998
Sports clubs and teams in Columbus, Ohio
Women's sports in Ohio
Basketball in Columbus, Ohio
ca:American Basketball League III