Wnba Extends Season

The Women’s National Basketball Association will extend its regular season and playoffs next season and add an All-Star Game in 1999.

The changes come a week after the WNBA said it would expand into Detroit and Washington next season and likely add two additional teams in 1999.

Each of the league’s 10 teams will play 30 regular-season games next year, up from the original eight teams playing 28 apiece this season. The 1998 regular season will begin Thursday, June 11, with Tuesday, Sept. 1, being the last possible date for a team to win the WNBA championship.

The playoff format also will be altered for the league’s second season. The Eastern and Western conference champions will be seeded No. 1 and No. 2, while the two teams with the next best records regardless of conference also will qualify for postseason play.

All playoff series will be a best-of-three format next year, instead of the one-game format used this year.