New York, NY -- Sacramento Monarchs head coach John Whisenant was named the 2005 WNBA Coach of the Year on Friday.

Whisenant received 25 of a possible 50 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. He led Sacramento to the second-best record in the league at 25-9, which was also the most wins in franchise history.

The Monarchs captured their first-ever regular season conference title, earning them the top seed in the West. The Monarchs have posted a 55-29 (.654) record since Whisenant took over as head coach in the middle of the 2003 season.

Sacramento posted the best home record in the league at 15-2. The team finished the year winning 12 of its last 14 games overall.

Finishing second in the voting was Sun head coach Mike Thibault with 19 points. Houston's Van Chancellor (3), Indiana's Brian Winters (1), Phoenix's Carrie Graf (1) and New York's Pat Coyle (1) rounded out the voting.