Janice Faye Lawrence Braxton ( Lawrence, born June 7, 1962) is an American former 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 ...

player. Born in Lucedale, Mississippi, she was inducted into the

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's bask ...

in 2006 and the

Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame (LHOF) is an hall of fame exhibit that honors the accomplishments of athletes, coaches and other sports figures in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located in a facility in the downtown historic district of the city ...

in 2005.

College career

Braxton played college basketball for

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – Hig ...

, where she helped lead the Lady Techsters to national championships in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

and

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

. While only a sophomore in 1982, she was the leading scorer in the NCAA tournament, and was named the tournament MVP. Braxton won the WBCA Player of the Year award in 1984.

Louisiana Tech statistics

Source

USA Basketball

Braxton was a member of the

1983 Pan American Games The 1983 Pan American Games, officially known as the IX Pan American Games () and commonly known as Caracas 1983, were held in Caracas, Venezuela from August 14 to August 29, 1983. The games were the first major international competition to inclu ...

team that won a gold medal in Venezuela. Braxton was a member of the USA National team at the 1983 World Championships, held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The team won six games, but lost two against the Soviet Union. In an opening round game, the USA team had a nine-point lead at halftime, but the Soviets came back to take the lead, and a final shot by the USA failed to drop, leaving the USSR team with a one-point victory 85–84. The USA team won their next four games, setting up the gold medal game against USSR. This game was also close, and was tied at 82 points each with six seconds to go in the game. Elena Chausova of the Soviet Union received the inbounds pass and hit the game winning shot in the final seconds, giving the USSR team the gold medal with a score of 84–82. The USA team earned the silver medal. Braxton averaged 8.9 points per game. In 1984, the United States sent its National team to the 1984

William Jones Cup The William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament (), also known as the William Jones Cup, is an international basketball tournament organized by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) held annually since 1977 in sports, 1977 ...

competition in

Taipei, Taiwan , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

, for pre-Olympic practice. The team easily beat each of the eight teams they played, winning by an average of just under 50 points per game. Braxton averaged 6.7 points per game. She won a gold medal with the USA Women's Olympic basketball team at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

. She was inducted into the Louisiana Tech University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2006, Braxton was elected to the

, located in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

Professional career

Braxton played for the New York team in the

Women's American Basketball Association The Women's American Basketball Association (WABA) is a summer women's basketball league that began in 2017 with seven teams. It is a sister league of the American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major ...

, a short-lived league in the mid-80's (not to be confused with WABA a league of the same name existing in 2002). Braxton played 13 seasons in Europe with Vicenza, Messina and Parma in Italian League. The Vicenza team won four European Champions Cup while Braxton played for the team, scoring almost 23 points per game. She earned All-Star honors in 1997.

WNBA

She was selected in the initial player allocation of the

1997 WNBA draft The 1997 WNBA draft was the 1st draft held by the WNBA through which teams could select new players from a talent pool of college and professional women's basketball players. Unlike later drafts, this draft was unique because there were three d ...

to the

Cleveland Rockers The Cleveland Rockers were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Cleveland, that played from 1997 until 2003. The Rockers were one of the original eight franchises of the WNBA, which started in 1997. The owner was Gordon ...

in the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA). Her debut game was played on June 21, 1997, in a 56–76 loss to the

Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...

. Braxton recorded 3 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals playing for nearly 20 minutes. Braxton played for 3 seasons from 1997 to 1999 and she spent all three years playing for the Rockers. Her only time making the playoffs with the Rockers was during the 1998 season. Braxton started in all 30 games that season and helped the Rockers finish 20–10 (#1 in the Eastern Conference) as they matched up against the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

in the Semi-Finals. Despite Braxton having great averages of 10.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in the playoffs series, Cleveland would lose 2–1 to the Mercury and be eliminated. The 1999 season saw a massive downturn for the Rockers as they finished the season 7–25 with Braxton playing in less minutes per game than previous years and averaging less points, rebounds and assists across the board. Braxton's final WNBA game was played on August 21, 1999, in a 66–56 win over the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Confer ...

where she recorded 7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal. In 2003, she joined the

as an assistant coach.

Awards and honors

* 1982—NCAA Tournament MVP * 1983—Kodak All-America * 1984—Kodak All-America * 1984—Wade Trophy

Career statistics

Regular season

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1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

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Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

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1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

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, 30 , , 30 , , 28.0 , , .495 , , .333 , , .755 , , 5.6 , , 2.5 , , 1.7 , , 0.5 , , 2.2 , , 9.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

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, 26 , , 21 , , 18.3 , , .460 , , .125 , , .697 , , 4.3 , , 1.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 1.3 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 3 years, 1 team , 81 , , 75 , , 26.4 , , .458 , , .333 , , .748 , , 5.8 , , 1.9 , , 1.3 , , 0.7 , , 1.9 , , 9.0

Playoffs

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, 3 , , 3 , , 27.7 , , .385 , , .000 , , .857 , , 6.3 , , 2.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 2.3 , , 10.7

References

Notes

External links

* * * * *
Janice Lawrence Braxton
at the

Janice Lawrence Braxton
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Braxton, Janice Lawrence 1962 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American women's basketball players Basketball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Mississippi Cleveland Rockers players Forwards (basketball) Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball players Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) People from Lucedale, Mississippi Basketball players at the 1983 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in basketball 21st-century African-American sportswomen 21st-century American sportswomen 20th-century African-American sportswomen 20th-century American sportswomen United States women's national basketball team players Cleveland Rockers coaches