Toni Foster (born October 16, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player in the WNBA. She was the eighth pick in the 1997 WNBA draft, being selected by the Phoenix Mercury.[2]
College career
Foster played for head coach C. Vivian Stringer and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Foster helped the Hawkeyes reach the NCAA tournament each season she played in Iowa City, culminating with a trip to the program's first-ever Final Four to cap her career. During her four-year career, Toni was a force on the defensive end. She established a school-record for blocks in a career (now 6th on the list) and finished number two on the career rebounds list (now 6th).
Professional career
Foster was selected with the 8th overall pick in the 1997 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury. Her debut game was played on June 22, 1997 in a 76 - 59 win over the Charlotte Sting where she recorded 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists.[3] During the 1999 season, Foster was waived by the Mercury on June 9, 1999 but was signed to them again over a month later on July 19 and finished the season with the team.[4]
She was drafted to the Seattle Storm on December 15, 1999 during the expansion draft. However, Foster never played for the Storm and was waived 6 months later on May 15, 2000.[5]
Foster played 54 games in her WNBA career, all 54 of them being played with the Mercury. Her final game ever was played on August 20, 1999 in a 62 - 70 loss to the Utah Starzz where she recorded 4 points and 1 assist.[6]
Career statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
College
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989–90 | Iowa | 29 | - | - | 47.2 | 0.0 | 55.0 | 4.9 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.6 | - | 6.8 |
| 1990–91 | Iowa | 30 | - | - | 55.4 | 0.0 | 67.4 | 8.2 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 1.3 | - | 15.8 |
| 1991–92 | Iowa | 29 | - | - | 55.2 | 0.0 | 70.1 | 8.4 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.6 | - | 15.4 |
| 1992–93 | Iowa | 31 | - | - | 52.6 | 0.0 | 66.9 | 8.2 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.3 | - | 15.7 |
| Career | 119 | - | - | 53.4 | 0.0 | 65.6 | 7.5 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.2 | - | 13.5 | |
| Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.[7] | |||||||||||||
WNBA
Source[8]
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Phoenix | 28° | 28° | 26.3 | .468 | .167 | .704 | 6.1 | 1.0 | 1.9 | .8 | 1.9 | 8.8 |
| 1998 | Phoenix | 16 | 5 | 13.6 | .467 | – | .767 | 1.9 | 1.2 | .9 | .3 | .9 | 4.9 |
| 1999 | Phoenix | 10 | 0 | 4.2 | .583 | – | .688 | .8 | .1 | .0 | .1 | .4 | 2.5 |
| Career | 54 | 33 | 18.4 | .473 | .167 | .717 | 3.9 | .9 | 1.2 | .5 | 1.3 | 6.5 |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Phoenix | 1 | 1 | 29.0 | .333 | – | .500 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | .0 | 1.0 | 7.0 |
| 1998 | Phoenix | 6 | 0 | 8.3 | .300 | – | 1.000 | 1.3 | .8 | .7 | .0 | .3 | 1.7 |
| Career | 7 | 11 | 11.3 | .316 | – | .833 | 1.9 | .9 | 1.0 | .0 | .4 | 2.4 |
References
- ^ Los Angeles Times It'll Be New York, Houston in the WNBA's First Final - Los Angeles Times
- ^ 3 Former Florida Basketball Players Taken In WNBA Draft - Orlando Sentinel
- ^ "Charlotte Sting at Phoenix Mercury, June 22, 1997".
- ^ "1999 Phoenix Mercury Transactions".
- ^ "2000 Seattle Storm Transactions".
- ^ "Utah Starzz at Phoenix Mercury, August 20, 1999".
- ^ "Toni Foster College Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
- ^ "Toni Foster WNBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
External links