Janice Lawrence Braxton

Personal information
Born	June 7, 1962 (1962-06-07) (age 63) Lucedale, Mississippi, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 2.5 in (1.89 m)
Listed weight	161 lb (73 kg)
Career information
College	Louisiana Tech (1980–1984)
WNBA draft	1997: Initial allocation round
Drafted by	Cleveland Rockers
Position	Forward
Number	8, 38
Career history
1997–1999	Cleveland Rockers
Career highlights
Wade Trophy (1984) WBCA Player of the Year (1984) NCAA Tournament MOP (1982) 2xKodak All-American (1983, 1984)
Stats atBasketball Reference
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
Medals Women'sbasketball Representingthe United States Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles Team competition Pan American Games 1983 Venezuela Team competition Jones Cup 1984 Taipei Team competition FIBA World Championship for Women 1983 Rio de Janeiro Team competition

Janice Faye Lawrence Braxton (néeLawrence, born June 7, 1962) is an American former professionalwomen's basketball player.^[1] Born inLucedale, Mississippi, she was inducted into theWomen's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006 and theLouisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.

Braxton played college basketball forLouisiana Tech, where she helped lead the Lady Techsters to national championships in1981 and1982.^[1] While only a sophomore in 1982, she was the leading scorer in the NCAA tournament, and was named the tournament MVP.^[1] Braxton won theWBCA Player of the Year award in 1984.

Source^[2]

Braxton was a member of the1983 Pan American Games team that won a gold medal in Venezuela.^[3]

Braxton was a member of the USA National team at the 1983 World Championships, held inSao 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.^[4]

In 1984, the United States sent its National team to the 1984William Jones Cup competition inTaipei, Taiwan, 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.^[5]

She won a gold medal with the USA Women's Olympic basketball team at the1984 Summer Olympics.^[6][7]

She was inducted into theLouisiana Tech University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2006, Braxton was elected to theWomen's Basketball Hall of Fame, located inKnoxville, Tennessee.^[8]

Braxton played for the New York team in theWomen's American Basketball Association, a short-lived league in the mid-80's (not to be confused withWABA a league of the same name existing in 2002).^[9]

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.^[9]

She was selected in the initial player allocation of the1997 WNBA draft to theCleveland Rockers in theWomen's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Her debut game was played on June 21, 1997, in a 56–76 loss to theHouston Comets. 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.^[10] 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 thePhoenix Mercury 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 theNew York Liberty where she recorded 7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal.^[11]

In 2003, she joined theCleveland Rockers as an assistant coach.^[9]

• 1982—NCAA Tournament MVP^[1]
• 1983—Kodak All-America^[1]
• 1984—Kodak All-America^[1]
• 1984—Wade Trophy^[12]

• David L. Porter, ed. (2005).Basketball: A Biographical Dictionary.Greenwood Press.ISBN 978-0-313-30952-6.

• Career statistics fromWNBA.com  · Basketball Reference 
• Janice Lawrence atFIBA (archive)
• Janice Lawrence international stats atBasketball-Reference.com
• Janice Lawrence atOlympedia
• Janice Faye Lawrence atOlympics.com
• Janice Lawrence Braxton at theWomen's Basketball Hall of Fame
• Janice Lawrence Braxton at theLouisiana Sports Hall of Fame

• 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

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from December 2015
• FIBA template using new ID