View source for Janice Lawrence Braxton

{{short description|American basketball player}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name             = Janice Lawrence Braxton
| image            = 
| caption          = 
| birth_date       = {{birth-date and age|June 7, 1962}}
| birth_place      = [[Lucedale, Mississippi]], U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 2.5
| weight_lbs = 161
| career_position = [[Forward (basketball)|Forward]]
| career_number = 8, 38
| college = [[Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters|Louisiana Tech]] (1980–1984)
| draft_league = WNBA
| draft_year = 1997
| draft_round = Initial allocation
| draft_team = [[Cleveland Rockers]]
| years1 = [[1997 WNBA season|1997]]–[[1999 WNBA season|1999]]
| team1 = [[Cleveland Rockers]]
| WBHOF = janice-lawrence-braxton
|highlights = 
* [[Wade Trophy]] (1984)
* [[WBCA Player of the Year]] (1984)
* [[NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player|NCAA Tournament MOP]] ([[1982 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament|1982]])
* 2x [[Women's Basketball Coaches Association|Kodak]] All-American (1983, 1984)
| show-medals      = yes
| medaltemplates   = 
{{MedalSport | Women's [[basketball]] }}
{{MedalCountry | the {{bk|USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Basketball at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]] }}
{{MedalGold | [[Basketball at the 1984 Summer Olympics|1984 Los Angeles]] | [[Basketball at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Women's team rosters#United States|Team competition]] }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Basketball at the Pan American Games|Pan American Games]] }}
{{MedalGold | [[1983 Pan American Games|1983 Venezuela]] | [[Basketball at the 1983 Pan American Games|Team competition]] }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[R. William Jones Cup|Jones Cup]]  }}
{{MedalGold | [[USA Women's R. William Jones Cup Team#1984|1984 Taipei]] | Team competition }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[FIBA World Championship for Women]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1983 FIBA World Championship for Women|1983 Rio de Janeiro]] | Team competition }}
}}

'''Janice Faye Lawrence Braxton''' ({{nee}} '''Lawrence''', born June 7, 1962) is an American former professional [[women's basketball]] player.<ref name="porter53" /> Born in [[Lucedale, Mississippi]], she was inducted into the [[Women's Basketball Hall of Fame]] in 2006 and the [[Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame]] in 2005.

==College career==
Braxton played college basketball for [[Louisiana Tech]], where she helped lead the Lady Techsters to national championships in [[AIAW women's basketball tournament|1981]] and [[1982 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament|1982]].<ref name="porter53" /> While only a sophomore in 1982, she was the leading scorer in the NCAA tournament, and was named the tournament MVP.<ref name="porter53" /> Braxton won the [[WBCA Player of the Year]] award in 1984.

===Louisiana Tech statistics===
Source<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/w_basketball_RB/misc/wbbfinest.pdf |title=Women's Basketball Finest |website=fs.ncaa.org |access-date=October 2, 2017}}</ref>
{{NBA player statistics legend}}
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Team
!GP
!Points
!FG%
!FT%
!RPG
!PPG
|-
|1980–81
|Louisiana Tech
|34
|507
| colspan="2" |NA
|8.3
|14.9
|-
|1981–82
|Louisiana Tech
|'''36'''
|528
|55.6%
|'''71.3%'''
|7.0
|14.7
|-
|1982–83
|Louisiana Tech
|33
|'''685'''
|59.8%
|63.5%
|'''9.1'''
|20.8
|-
|1983–84
|Louisiana Tech
|32
|683
|'''61.9%'''
|71.0%
|8.1
|'''21.3'''
|-
|Career
|
|135
|2403
|59.3%
|68.3%
|8.1
|17.8
|}

==USA Basketball==
Braxton was a member of the [[1983 Pan American Games]] team that won a gold medal in Venezuela.<ref name="1983 Pan Am" />

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.<ref name="1983 WC" />

In 1984, the United States sent its National team to the 1984 [[William Jones Cup]] competition in [[Taipei, 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.<ref name="1984 Jones Cup" />

She won a gold medal with the USA Women's Olympic basketball team at the [[1984 Summer Olympics]].<ref name="USABasketball" /><ref>{{cite Sports-Reference|title=Janice Lawrence |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/la/janice-lawrence-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203122233/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/la/janice-lawrence-1.html |archive-date=3 December 2016}}</ref>

She was inducted into the [[Louisiana Tech University Athletic Hall of Fame]] in 1987. In 2006, Braxton was elected to the [[Women's Basketball Hall of Fame]], located in [[Knoxville, Tennessee]].<ref name="WBHOF" />

==Professional career==
Braxton played for the New York team in the [[Women's American Basketball Association (1984)|Women's American Basketball Association]], a short-lived league in the mid-80's (not to be confused with [[Women's American Basketball Association (2002)|WABA]] a league of the same name existing in 2002).<ref name="porter54" />

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.<ref name="porter54" />

===WNBA===
She was selected in the initial player allocation of the [[1997 WNBA draft]] to the [[Cleveland Rockers]] in the [[Women's National Basketball Association]] (WNBA). Her debut game was played on June 21, 1997, in a 56–76 loss to the [[Houston 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/players/b/braxtja01w.html |title=Janice Braxton WNBA Stats}}</ref> 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]] 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]] where she recorded 7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/boxscores/199908210CLE.html |title=New York Liberty at Cleveland Rockers, August 21, 1999}}</ref>

In 2003, she joined the [[Cleveland Rockers]] as an assistant coach.<ref name="porter54" />

==Awards and honors==
* 1982—NCAA Tournament MVP<ref name="porter53" />
* 1983—Kodak All-America<ref name="porter53" />
* 1984—Kodak All-America<ref name="porter53" />
* 1984—Wade Trophy<ref name="Wade Trophy" />

==Career statistics==
{{WNBA player statistics legend}}

===Regular season===
{{WNBA player statistics start}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1997 WNBA season|1997]]
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1997 Cleveland Rockers season|Cleveland]]
| 25 || 24 || '''32.9''' || .417 || '''.500''' || '''.768''' || '''7.6''' || 2.0 || 1.4 || '''1.1''' || 2.1 || '''11.5'''
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1998 WNBA season|1998]]
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1998 Cleveland Rockers season|Cleveland]]
| '''30''' || '''30''' || 28.0 || '''.495''' || .333 || .755 || 5.6 || '''2.5''' || '''1.7''' || 0.5 || 2.2 || 9.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1999 WNBA season|1999]]
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1999 Cleveland Rockers season|Cleveland]]
| 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
{{s-end}}

===Playoffs===
{{WNBA player statistics start}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[WNBA playoffs#1998 season|1998]]
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1998 Cleveland Rockers season|Cleveland]]
| 3 || 3 || 27.7 || .385 || .000 || .857 || 6.3 || 2.0 || 0.7 || 0.0 || 2.3 || 10.7
{{s-end}}

==References==
* {{cite book |title=Basketball: A Biographical Dictionary |editor=David L. Porter |publisher=[[Greenwood Press]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-313-30952-6}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name="porter53">Porter p. 53</ref>

<ref name="1983 Pan Am">{{cite web |title=Ninth Pan American Games -- 1983 |date=June 10, 2010 |url=http://www.usab.com/history/pan-am-womens/ninth-pan-american-games-1983-1.aspx |website=usab.com |publisher=[[USA Basketball]] |access-date=October 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907034844/http://www.usab.com/history/pan-am-womens/ninth-pan-american-games-1983-1.aspx |archive-date=September 7, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="1983 WC">{{cite web |title=Ninth World Championship For Women -- 1983 |date=June 10, 2010 |url=http://www.usab.com/history/national-team-womens/ninth-world-championship-for-women-1983.aspx |website=usab.com |publisher=USA Basketball |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905202038/http://www.usab.com/history/national-team-womens/ninth-world-championship-for-women-1983.aspx |archive-date=September 5, 2015 |url-status=dead |access-date=October 19, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="1984 Jones Cup">{{cite web |title=1984 WOMEN'S R. WILLIAM JONES CUP |url=http://archive.usab.com/womens/wjcup_1984.html |website=usab.com|publisher=USA Basketball |access-date=August 3, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808043846/http://archive.usab.com/womens/wjcup_1984.html |archive-date=August 8, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

<ref name="USABasketball">{{cite web |url=http://www.usabasketball.com/news.php?news_page=woly_1984 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120424230429/http://www.usabasketball.com/womens/national/woly_1984.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 24, 2012 |title=Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad -- 1984 |website=usabasketball.com |publisher=USA Basketball |access-date=August 23, 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="WBHOF">{{cite web |url=http://www.wbhof.com/inductees.html |title=WBHOF Inductees |website=wbhof.com |publisher=[[Women's Basketball Hall of Fame]] |access-date=August 1, 2009 |archive-date=December 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206134733/http://www.wbhof.com/Inductees.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="porter54">Porter p. 54</ref>

<ref name="Wade Trophy">{{cite web |title=The Wade Trophy |url=http://www.wbca.org/pages/AWARDS_wade-trophy |website=wbca.org |publisher=[[Women's Basketball Coaches Association]] |access-date=June 30, 2014 |archive-date=July 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715035651/http://www.wbca.org/pages/AWARDS_wade-trophy |url-status=dead }}</ref>

}}

==External links==
* {{Basketball stats}}
* {{FIBA profile|new_id=184960|name=Janice Lawrence|old_id=96492}}
* {{Basketball-Reference.com international player|name=Janice Lawrence}}
* {{Olympedia|name=Janice Lawrence}}
* {{Olympics.com profile|janice-faye-lawrence|Janice Faye Lawrence}}
* [https://wbhof.com/famers/janice-lawrence-braxton/ Janice Lawrence Braxton] at the [[Women's Basketball Hall of Fame]]
* [https://lasportshall.com/?inductees=janice-lawrence-braxton Janice Lawrence Braxton] at the [[Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame]]

{{navboxes
|list=
{{United States Women Basketball Squad 1984 Summer Olympics}}
{{Wade Trophy}}
{{Women's Basketball Hall of Fame}}
{{NCAA basketball tournament MOP women}}
{{1981 Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball navbox}}
{{1982 Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball navbox}}
}}

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