INTRODUCTION
Sources and acknowledgments: This is a work of enthusiastic, though not necessarily scholarly, research. Much of the information is drawn from Joanne Lannin and Susan Cahn‘s books, supported by lots of online research and several people – many total strangers – who share a passion for women’s basketball. Our hope is the links provided within the timeline honor all the work countless others have done to record the history of women’s basketball as well as further pique the interest in the history of women’s basketball.
I encourage you to link, forward or use the information. My only request is that you acknowledge the source (I’m looking at you, Ms. Williams at About.com). Any errors or omissions are solely my fault. Please send corrections and suggestions for additions to me at womenshoopsblog @ gmail.com
Enjoy!
Helen Wheelock
Timeline Copyright Helen Wheelock and WomensBasketballOnline.Com.
Below are some of the key sources I’ve used in my research:
Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles Sports Library
http://www.aafla.org/
North American Society for Sport History
http://nassh.org/
Association for Professional Basketball Research (APBR)
http://hometown.aol.com/bradleyrd/apbr.html
John Molina’s sites
http://www.womensbasketballmuseum.com/
Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame
http://www.wbhof.com/
Various collections relating to Girls’ and Women’s Sports
Books:
Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Women’s Sport. Susan K. Cahn.
From Six-on-Six to Full Court Press: A Century of Iowa Girl’s Basketball. Janice A. Bearn.
A History of Basketball for Girls and Women: From Bloomers to Big Leagues. Joanne Lannin
Learning to Win: Sports, Education, and Social Change in Twentieth-Century North Carolina. Pamela Grundy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001
Women’s Basketball Timeline: 1800’s
1891:
December: Basketball invented by Dr. James Naismith, an instructor at YMCA Training School in Springfield, MA.
13 RULES:
1. The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.
2. The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands.
3. A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, allowances to be made for a man who catches the ball when running if he tries to stop.
4. The ball must be held by the hands. The arms or body must not be used for holding it.
5. No shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping or striking in any way the person of an opponent shall be allowed; the first infringement of this rule by any player shall come as a foul, the second shall disqualify him until the next goal is made, or, if there was evident intent to injure the person, for the whole of the game, no substitute allowed.
6. A foul is striking the ball with the fist, violation of Rules 3, 4, and such as described in Rule 5.
7. If either side makes three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without the opponents in the meantime making a foul).
8. A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the grounds into the basket and stays there, providing those defending the goal do no touch or disturb the goal. If the ball rests on the edges, and the opponent moves the basket, it shall count as a goal.
9. When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field of play by the person touching it. He has a right to hold it unmolested for five seconds. In case of a dispute the umpire shall throw it straight into the field. The thrower-in is allowed five seconds; if he holds it longer it shall go to the opponent. If any side persists in delaying the game the umpire shall call a foul on that side.
10. The umpire shall be the judge of the men and shall note the fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls have been made. He shall have power to disqualify men according to Rule 5.
11. The referee shall be judge of the ball and shall decide when the ball is in play, in bounds, to which side it belongs, and shall keep the time. He shall decide when a goal has been made and keep account of the goals, with any other duties that are usually performed by a referee.
12. The time shall be two fifteen-minute halves, with five minutes rest between.
13. The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winner. In the case of a draw the game may, by agreement of the captains, be continued until another goal is made.
1892:
Peach baskets and a soccer ball are used.
January: A description of the game is published.
Senda Berenson, a physical education instructor at Smith College, Northampton, MA, adapts the rules for women and introduces the game to her students. Court was divided into three areas, with six players per team. Two players assigned to each area (guard, center, forward) and they could not cross the line into other areas. A ball was advance from section to section by passing or dribbling. Players limited to only three dribbles and could hold the ball for only three seconds. No snatching or batting the ball away from a player. Center jump after each score. Peach baskets and the soccer ball are used. Berenson’s rules, often modified, spread rapidly across the country via YMCAs and colleges, but many women also used men’s rules.
First inter-institutional (extramural) contest between the University of California, Berkeley and Miss Head’s School (girl’s prep) in Berkeley, CA.
1893:
March 23: First women’s basketball game held at Smith College. All doors locked, no men allowed, sophomores against freshmen.
Informal games on grass courts played at Iowa State College.
Clara Gregory Baer introduces basket ball (or basquette) to girls at Sophie Newcomb College, the female branch of Tulane University, in New Orleans. LA.
Max Exner, Naismith’s former roommate, teaches basketball to the women of Carleton College in Minnesota.
1894:
September: Berenson’s article describing her game and its benefits in general terms is published in the issue of the magazine Physical Education.
1895:
Rules: Baer publishes first basket ball (called “Basquette”) rules for women. Baer’s rules divide the court according to number of players on a side-11 sections if 11 players, seven sections if seven on a side, etc. No dribbling or guarding or talking is allowed. A player is given six seconds to aim and shoot the ball (later four). No backboards are allowed. Players may run only when the ball is in the air, and then only a few steps within their area. Goals are changed after each score so that offensive and defensive roles are reversed. The one-handed push shot is required (more than 40 years before the one-handed shot becomes popular in the men’s game). A two-handed shot (and a two-handed pass) is a foul. Baer’s rules are used widely across the South.
March 18: Sophie Newcomb College students play first public basketball game in the South at the Southern Athletic Club in New Orleans.
March 31: The Baltimore American reports a game of “basket ball” is played by the upper classes at Bryn Mawr School.
Kentucky: Berea College organizes its first basketball team.
1896:
April 4: First intercollegiate game on the West Coast played between Stanford and University of California, Berkeley.
April 17: First recorded game in Washington State at Ellensburg State Normal School (The “normal” school, borrowed from the French term, école normale, referring to a secular, non-parochial teacher training institution) vs. University of Washington.
Illinois: December 18, Chicago Austin High School plays Oak Park in the first known girls basketball game in the state.
Nebraska: Basketball is introduced to University of Nebraska’s physical education classes for sophomores.
1897:
California: Basketball exhibition staged at end of Southern California Lawn Tennis Association’s annual tournament in Santa Monica, CA.
Kansas: Baker University’s first women’s basketball game is played in the spring of 1897 between the Delta Delta Delta team and one picked from the other girls of the University.
Maine: Thornton Academy gym teacher Louise Leib and Thornton’s female students fervently take up the game, forming a TA Girls Basketball Association and playing interclass games until 1903, when they began playing teams from other schools.
Wisconsin: Oshkosh Normal School forms a women’s basketball team.
1898:
March: Nebraska: University of Nebraska women’s team (girl’s rules), founded by Louise Pound, plays against an outside opponent for the first time – Council Bluffs, Iowa (boys rules), at the Nebraska armory, Grant Memorial Hall, winning 15-7.
April 9: University of Nevada at Reno travel to play powerhouse Berkeley, losing 14-1. Washington and Berkeley allow slapping and blocking of the ball.
Cal Berkley is the team to beat on the West Coast, defeating Mills College 13-1 and Mission Y 10-1.
Iowa: Six player game begins. Originally played in a three-court manner.
Massachusetts: With the opening of Hemenway Gymnasium on the Radcliffe campus, a women’s basketball team is fielded. Annie Jackson ’00 is chosen captain for the first “varsity” team. The sport gains popularity and, over the next decade, a strong rivalry develops with Smith College.
University of Missouri organizes their first women’s basketball team. In that first year, there were inter-class games and intercollegiate games with Christian College (later Columbia College). Three years later, there were contests with teams from Kansas and Nebraska.
Oregon Agricultural College (later Oregon State University) fields their first team.
1899:
Rules: Formation of the Women’s Basket Ball Rules Committee at the Conference of Physical Training, held at Springfield College, MA. The goal was to make the rules uniform and address concerns the game was getting too rough.
Oregon State University introduces basketball as varsity sport (two years before the men’s team is created.)
Stanford’s faculty athletic committee rules that women can no longer compete at the intercollegiate level. Soon Cal follows suit. Though carried on at the intramural and amateur level, it didn’t become an intercollegiate sport until 1974.
University of Tennessee introduces physical education to its coeds in skilled and competitive sports, including basketball.
The Aeliolian ladies defeated the Philathians 8-7 in Wheaton College’s first recorded basketball game (the men played immediately afterward). Also, Wheaton played two games with DeKalb Normal (now Northern Illinois U.) one year before the men began off-campus games.
Women’s Basketball Timeline: 1900’s
Early 1900’s:
New Jersey: Millburn’s first girl’s basketball team organized by Martha Condit and Alice and Louise Eager.
New York: New York City and surrounding towns organize high school basketball leagues that played in armories.
1900:
December 12: Indiana: Elgin High School girls form two teams named the Goliaths and the Midgets and stage a public contest at Columbia Hall. The Midgets, behind the play of Virginia Hammond and Clara Kaufman, take a 10-2 decision. The girls’ game is strongly supported by the high school newspaper for, among other things, “it is the only exercise that has thus far been found that most girls can indulge in.”
1901:
Rules: In an attempt to standardize rules, Luther Gulick and other leaders at an 1899 physical training meeting in Springfield appoint four women representing Smith, Oberlin, Radcliffe and Boston Normal School of Gymnastics. At the meeting to form a Women’s Basket Ball Rules Committee to incorporate all modifications into one set of rules, with the health of the players the most important factor. Berenson heads the committee. It decides on Berenson’s original three-court rules (in which only certain players play offense), plus five to 10 players on a side.
Rules: First publication of official Basket Ball for Women by Spalding Athletic Library, A.G. Spalding with Senda Berenson as editor. Court is split into 3 equal zones with between 5-10 women on each side. No snatching or batting of ball. Holding the ball for more than 3 seconds was a foul. Only three dribbles before a shot or pass. However, Baer’s rules and men’s rules continue to be used. As late as 1914, one half to two thirds of women were playing by men’s rules, while the others were playing by at least five different versions of women’s rules.
Senda Berenson article, asserts the Value of Adapted Women’s Basketball, From Senda Berenson, “Significance of Basketball for Women,” in Line Basketball for Women,ed. Senda Berenson (New York: A. G. Spalding, 1901), 20-27.
Basketball begins at the Connecticut Agricultural College (later UConn).
March: Wheaton College women avenge an earlier loss to DeKalb, winning 8-4.
May: Kansas State plays its first public women’s basketball game (Purples, 9-2 over Reds).
Maryland: Bryn Mawr takes to the court against St. Timothy’s School in the nation’s first documented girls’ high school basketball game, and the two Baltimore-area institutions have repeated the match-up annually ever since.
1902:
May 2: Louisiana: The first basketball game at Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute may have been held between the Green team and Yellow team during the annual Field Day. The Green team included Captain, Armye Guidry; goal players, Rhena Boudreaux and Perrly Roy; base players, Aimee Thibodeau, Loolahbel Williams, Oceana Belanger, and Eva Dudley. The first basketball team was formed in 1904.
Kansas State women ask the faculty for permission to play basketball against other colleges but are denied the right to play.
The first University of Kentucky basketball team is organized despite objections from the women’s physical education director.
Maine: Lois Warren, daughter of a paper mill manager, who’d attended Vassar College, returns home and organizes mill girls for games.
The first Miami University team.
The first University of Texas women’s basketball game is played. The “Young Ladies’ Basketball Team” beat the “Town Girls” 7-4.
1903:
Rules: Women’s BasketBall Rules Committee adopts out-of-bounds rule that awards ball to opponent. (It used to be legal to “chase” the ball). Number of players changed to 6-9, 11 officials. Halves shortened from 20 minutes to 15 minutes.
Eight high schools, private schools and colleges organize to form the Girls Basketball League of Southern California, the first on the West Coast.
California: Pasadena High School defeats Los Angeles High School 95-0. Team features May Sutton, who would become first American to win Wimbledon.
California: Pomona College women’s basketball team starts their program with win against Occidental College by a score of 19-15.
Indiana: The girls basketball program at the high school in New London, was located in a Quaker area, and was also integrated.
Inter-Settlement Athletic Association founded. Teams sponsored by New York City settlement houses – organizations that service the new immigrant population, primarily in the Lower East Side – debate whether their league should play by men’s or women’s rules. (University Settlement, Leroy Scott House, Gordon House, Hudson Guild, Phelps House, Riverside House, Nurses Settlement, Greenpoint Settlement). There were other such teams in Chicago.
1904:
May 14: California: Los Angeles Herald reports on L.A. High School’s Victory over Glendale.
Western Illinois University basketball team is established.
University of Missouri organizes a Women’s Basketball Association. By 1924-25, with almost 140 signing up, basketball was one of the most popular women’s sports. A “color tournament” of fourteen teams was organized as well as an inter-class competition.
Montana: The team from Fort Shaw Boarding School travels to play and perform at the St. Louis Worlds Fair, is the subject of a book. Made up of Native Americans including players Nettie Wirth, Belle Johnson, Emma Rose Sansaver, the team was also honored by its local opponents.
1905-06:
The National Women’s Basketball Committee becomes part of the American Physical Education Association, known today as American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD).
1906:
Rules: Five to nine players are on a side. Description of backboard follows design of present backboards.
Texas girls play high school tournaments.
Wheaton College faculty ban women from intercollegiate play. It was not until 1960 that Wheaton women returned to intercollegiate play.
1907:
Boise, ID: The first girls basketball team is composed of seven members.
Illinois: Chicago Public Schools Superintendent Edwin Cooley bans city teams from organizing girls’ basketball league. A year later, the Illinois High School Athletic Association banned girls from participating in interscholastic sports, especially basketball.
1908:
Rules: Agnes R. Wayman, a member of the Women’s Basketball Rules Committee suggests that coaches emphasize the feminine traits of their players on and off the court.
Rules: Boxing up (two opponents guarding a player in the act of shooting) is a foul. Placing one hand on a ball already held by an opponent is a foul. Player is warned after third foul, sent to bench after fourth.
November 19: Maine: Aroostook State Normal School‘s first basketball game is played between the senior and freshman classes.
Many parents begin to forbid their daughters playing basketball, fearing its bad influence.
Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), headed by James Sullivan (yes THAT James Sullivan), which governs sports activities outside of high schools or colleges, declares it will not permit girls to participate in basketball games in public places.
Circa 1909-1920:
Washington, D.C.: At the National Training School for Women and Girls, founded by Nannie Helen Burroughs young black women play basketball.
1909:
Colorado: Arvada High School takes Girls’ Basketball Suburban League Championship.
Indiana: Hobart Girls High School team’s six victories against teams from Crown Point, Gary, and East Chicago secures the championship of Lake County.
1910:
Rules: Dribbling is banned.
Schools begin limiting the number of games played against other schools, to prevent girls from becoming too competitive.
Ely, NV: White Pine HS Girl’s Basketball Team. Champion girls basketball team that traveled all over the northern part of the state.
Texas: Girls compete in regional championships.
1911:
Indiana University inaugurates state high school basketball tournament with 12 public high schools participating.
1912:
Dudley A. Sargent, M.D. publishes Are Athletics Making Girls Masculine? A Practical Answer to a Question Every Girl Asks.
Montana State University’s Women’s Basketball Team
North Carolina: Eastern Carolina Training School (now Eastern Carolina University) organizes the Women’s Athletic Association to “encourage and develop athletic spirit; provide recreation for students; and train girls to carry on independent athletic activities.” It includes three branches of athletics: basketball, tennis and cross-country walking, each supervised by a faculty member.
Miami University abolishes intercollegiate basketball.
1913:
Rules: Officiating first appeared in guides.
Rules: Single dribble returns, but ball must bounce knee high, If the court is small, the court can be divided in half and the center on five-player team (center had special markings) could play entire court but not shoot for a basket. Two-handed shot only worth one point, instead of two.
Oregon State University reduces basketball to interclass play, limited to the months of spring.
1914:
The American Olympic Committee formally opposes women’s athletic competition in the Olympics.
Maine: Thorton Academy girls win the State Basketball Championship title, finishing the season with a 9-1 record.
1915:
Canada: The Edmonton Commercial Graduates Basketball Club, simply know as the Edmonton Grads, are founded. Coached by John Percy Page, players were mostly teachers and secretaries. Played from 1915-1940.
1916:
Rules: No coaching is allowed from the sidelines during game (only at halftime) No timeouts, no substitutions.
Oregon State University women’s basketball is again given varsity status. By 1919, basketball was so popular over 300 women tried out for the team.
1917:
Rules: Player is warned after four fouls, disqualified after five. Center in small two-court game can shoot if she plays full court. Shooting foul now yields two free throws.
Nevada: A huge letter “T” was built in a hillside to honor Tonopah High School’s state championship girls basketball team.
1918:
Rules: Basket with open bottom instead of a closed basket with pull-chain became official in order to speed up the game. Bounce pass legalized. Substitutes may be used, but players cannot re-enter the game. Throw-in from out of bounds awarded opponent for a violation (instead of free throw). Freedom to shoot reversed for roving center in small two-court game. Three timeouts of five minutes each are available.
Dr. J. Anna Norris publishes the “Official Basket Ball Guide for Women.”
Texas: When the State Athletic Commissions ceases sponsoring state tournaments, three rival organizations step in to continue girls tournaments. Officially sponsored Texas state tournaments don’t resume until 1951.
1919:
Oklahoma: An unofficial girls’ high school basketball championship emerged in 1919, and a sanctioned championship came in 1924.
Tennessee: Dr. Mary Douglas Ayres Ewell, graduate of Sophie Newcomb College for Women in 1917, played under Clara Baer. Mary Ayres returned to Knoxville in 1919 and was named coach for the University of Tennessee girls’ basketball team. In March 1920, UT women students, with Ayres’ approval, requested “equal rights and privileges” with male athletes including team travel to other colleges for athletic events, increased funding for the women’s program, and representation on the Athletic Council.
Circa 1920’s
In 1920s through the 1940s, competitive women’s basketball flourished in industrial towns, rural areas, and African American communities around the country.
Denver,CO: West High School women’s basketball team is integrated
Oklahoma: Woodville Girls Basketball Team
1920:
Industrial leagues: Teams of players sponsored by the companies they work for begin to emerge. Companies begin to recruit women right out of high school or college because a winning team is good publicity.
Black colleges in South continue to encourage interscholastic rivalries. South Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical College and Alabama State Teachers College host high school tournaments for girls.
Chicago, IL: The Roma Girls, a team of African Americans, are stars, playing in the women’s division of the African American basketball league, featuring church and local club teams.
Iowa: Correctionville wins first state championship tournament. Players used hand signals since they couldn’t talk on court.
Kentucky: KHSAA begins sponsorship of a girls’ bracket in the state tournament.
Kentucky: The Chandler Normal School, the first black high school in Lexington, Girl’s Basketball team.
Philadelphia, PA: The Philadelphia Hustle, an all black team (that counts Ora Mae Washington amongst its players), begins barnstorming.
Texas: Industrial league women’s basketball is so large, over 1,000 women were applying to play in AAU sanctioned tournaments.
1921:
Rules: Two-handed overhead field goal now is worth one point (instead of two, because only vertical guarding is allowed and this shot has been perfected).
Margaret Katherine Majer (pronounced “Mayor”) becomes first coach of Penn’s women’s athletic teams and organizes a women’s basketball team. She schedules the first intercollegiate competitions for women and play against eight opponents in the first year, including Bryn Mawr College, Drexel University, and Temple University.
Jeux Feminins, the first all-women Olympics, is held in Monaco. Three hundred women from five countries compete in many sports not permitted in the Olympic Games, such as track and field and basketball. They are held again in 1922 and 1923.
Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) sponsors the first girls’ basketball state championship. As early as 1922, there were fifty-one girls’ teams participating in district tournaments.
Maine: Ann McKechnie, coach of Deering High (Portland, ME) devises the block play (screening), and works with her tall players so they’ll excel (low-post play) as well as scouting elementary schools teams for upcoming talent. A player on Thorton Academy’s championship teams, coach McKechnie’s innovations help lead Deering High to almost a decade of state championships.
1922:
Rules: Rules state there must be at least six players on a side, maximum of nine in order to lessen competition/stress (5 player) and congestion (10 players). Tie games are allowed to stand “to minimize the emphasis on winning.”
The National Amateur and Athletic Federation (NAAF) is founded, committed to boys and girls being on an “equal footing with the same standards, the same program and the same regulations.”
Los Angeles, CA: YMCA hosts a recreational league for girls.
Kansas: The Shawnee Mission Hill Girls Basketball Team (“The Shawnee Mission Six”) wins seventeen straight games and wins the first state championship.
Kentucky: 50 high school girl’s teams compete in district tournaments that lead to a state championship.
1923:
Lou Henry Hoover, head of Girl Scouts of America and wife of President Herbert Hoover, helps the Women’s Division of the National Amateur Athletic Federation (WDNAAF).
So many industrial companies are playing each other at this time, the first world championships are held for the Underwood Trophy. Edmonton Grads defeat the Cleveland Favorite Knits. The Grads would win this trophy 17 times in a row.
The WDNAAF holds its first conference. It attacks competitive athletics, especially basketball as being unhealthy and inappropriate. Concern that women’s scholastic athletics will begin to resemble men’s (quasi-professional, corrupt, promoting betting) they promote a “Sports for Sports sake” philosophy.
Colorado: Arvada High School takes Girls’ Basketball Suburban League Championship.
Indiana: Hammond High girls team. As interscholastic competition disappears, alternatives developed. Some areas developed “Play Days” during which different schools would gather, mix together and play against each other. High schools throughout the Calumet region established athletic clubs for girls. Each school formed teams according to grades. The seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen competed against each other in a manner similar to present-day intramural sports. Girls’ Athletic Associations remained the most common form of women’s sports until the 1970s.
Missouri: Washington University in St. Louis Women’s Basketball Team
Ed Diddle, coach of Western Kentucky University’s men’s and women’s teams, defeats Kentucky’s women’s team, coached by law school student A.B. “Happy” Chandler, to win the state women’s championship.
Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Coach Blanche Voorhees guided an Owl basketball team to a perfect 12-0 record.
1924:
Rules: Eight-minute quarters with two minutes between quarters and a 10-minute half time. No coaching is allowed in the two minutes between quarters.
Women’s basketball is an exhibition sport at the Olympics.
International Women’s Sports Federation is formed and hosts its version of the Olympics; women’s basketball is included in the competition.
The AAU holds the first national basketball tournament for women with six teams.
February 25: Marie Boyd of Lonaconing Central scores 156 points in a game against Ursuline Academy. The six-on-six game, played in Maryland, ended with a final score of 163-3.
Canada: Edmonton Grads win the European championship, and declared world champions after winning tournament in France.
Colorado: Arvada High School takes Girls’ Basketball Suburban League Championship.
Connecticut: From 1924-1934 Aetna Insurance’s women’s team, the Crimson Tide, dominate New England regional Basketball scene.
Iowa: The first Iowa High School statewide basketball tournament is held. 250 teams participate. By the 1950s this high school tournament would have attendance of 15,000+ fans.
Kentucky: University of Kentucky abolishes its intercollegiate women’s team.
Theodora Roosevelt Boyd, an African-American born in South Carolina and raised in Massachusetts, plays for the Radcliffe women’s basketball team, the predecessor of the Harvard Crimson women’s team.
1925:
Rules: Goals scored by one-hand overhand throw, two-hand underhand throw, the shot-put throw and the throw with back to the basket also count as one point.
37 states hold high school varsity basketball and/or state tournaments.
WDNAAF passes a resolution outlawing extramural competition, opposing gate receipts at women’s games, all travel for women’s games, and all publicity of women’s sports. The National Association of Secondary School Principals supports the resolution. They pressure high school sports associations to disband tournaments and are most successful in Eastern states and large city schools, less so in rural states.
January: University of Alaska Fairbanks traveled to Anchorage and defeated the Anchorage women by scores of 12 – 7 and 10 – 9.
California: Pasadena Athletic and Girls Club forms a basketball team.
Iowa: the High School Athletic Association votes to substitute volleyball for basketball and end the state tournament system.
1926:
April 8-9: AAU sponsors the first-ever National Women’s Basketball Championship, using men’s rules. Held in Los Angeles, 5,000 attend, and the Pasadena Athletic and Country Club wins.
WDNAAF convention in New York City focuses their ire on businesses, chambers of commerce, and church groups who look to improve their public image through successful basketball teams.
Iowa: Rural school administrators and the publishers of Des Moines’s daily newspaper, The Register, start their own organization called the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union to oversee tournament play at the county, sectional, and state level. 159 schools fielded girl’s teams in the association. Sports editor Jack North and sports writer Bert McGrane run the tournaments for 16 years.
Kentucky: Audrey Whitlock Peterson’s ‘s high school teams lose only five games between 1926-1929. In 1932 they win the state championship, the last state tournament for girls for almost 40 years.
University of Tennessee and University of Kentucky disband their women’s basketball teams. By the end of the ’20’s only 12% of colleges sponsor women’s varsity basketball teams.
1927:
Rules: Players must wear numbers on the back of their jerseys.
The WDNAAF successfully pressures officials in Wichita, KS, a “hotbed of industrial basketball,” to cancel the AAU National Women’s Basketball Tournament (and again in 1928) prompting some business owners to disband teams.
Ada, OK: Bertha Teague starts girls basketball at Ada, Oklahoma, despite pressure from WDNAAF. In her 43 years of coaching (1927-69) at Byng High School, she compiles a 90 percent winning average with a win-loss record of 1,157-115. Her record includes eight state championships, and at one time, a 98-game winning streak.
1927-1928:
Sunoco Oilers (Dallas Sun Oilers) declared AAU national champions, though there’s no National Tournament.
1928:
Rules: Women’s National Officials Ruling Committee, the first national women’s officiating board is formed. They publish the pamphlet: “Techniques for the Woman Official as Referee or Umpire in Girls Basketball.
New York: Aetna’s Crimson Tide plays at Madison Square Garden. In the prelude to a professional men’s game between the Original Celtics and the Cleveland Rosenblums, they trounced the reigning New York City champions, a team from the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, by a score of 42-11.
Pennsylvania: The Elizabethtown College fields a women’s basketball team. They didn’t have many collegiate women’s basketball teams nearby to play, so instead they faced teams named “Eighth Ward, Lancaster;”“Fifth Street Methodist Church;”“E-town Jasperettes;”and “St. John’s Parish.”
1929:
First AAU All-America team selected.
Colorado: Girls’ athletics came to an abrupt halt in 1928-1929, when Arvada High School’s Superintendent Clifton B. Raybourn determined that “it was hazardous to their health” and stopped girls athletics. The Colorado Medical Association agreed with the health concern and the State of Colorado lost girls’ competitive athletics.
Kansas: The national AAU tournament is revived in Wichita, adding a beauty contest to the event. Sunoco Oilers defeat the Dallas Golden Cyclones (sponsored by the Employers Casualty Insurance Company) to win the championship.
Circa 1930’s:
WDNAAF continues to apply pressure and, in many states, competitive basketball at elementary, high school and college level all but disappears.
1930:
Rules: Seamless, 30″ ball standardized. Allows for new moves such as the bounce pass, lay up, and jump shot.
Kansas: 28 teams from a dozen states (Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, Nebraska, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Indiana, Oklahoma) compete in the national AAU tournament in Wichita. The Sunoco Oilers defeat the Golden Cyclones to with the championship.
Boston, MA: The Dennison House sports a Chinese women’s basketball team.
Ohio: State tournaments for girls are banned.
Texas: High Schooler Babe Didrikson joins the Dallas Golden Cyclones. She is given a clerical job and paid good money: $75 a month ($900 a year.)
1931:
A survey of 25 industrial cities shows 65 different community organizations provide women’s basketball programs.
The Dallas Golden Cyclones win the National AAU tournament.
Chicago, IL & Philadelphia, PA: During the 1930s, two women’s black barnstorming teams feature two of America’s best athletes. Organized by Edward “Sol” Butler, the Chicago Romas star player Isadore Channels was also a four-time winner of the American Tennis Association (ATA) Women’s title. The Romas, who played against both male and female teams, went undefeated between 1939-1945. The Romas’ chief rival was the Philadelphia Tribunes, also known and the Philly Tribune Girls, sponsored by the black newspaper of the same name. The team’s star player Ora Mae Washington won eight ATA titles.
1932:
Rules: Guarding on any plane is made legal (making the game much more exciting and skillful). All field goals now count two points. Two options to start the game: a center throw-in or a jump-up.
Kentucky: The high school sports establishment cancels the girls state basketball tournament, effectively ending interscholastic competition.
Washington: Tacoma Carsten’s Packing Company Team (the Vagabonds) compete in Tacoma City Girl’s basketball League There were six women’s teams in the 1932 city league sponsored by the Metropolitan Park District including teams representing Hoskins Grill, Pacific Telephone, and Tacoma Poultry and Eggs.
1933:
North American International Series begins pitting the champs of the US (AAU) vs. the champs of Canada. Presbyterian College Cardinals (Durant, OK) would beat the Edmonton Grads for this first title.
New York: NY State High School Athletic Association ends high school tournaments.
1934:
Tulsa Business College Steno’s (OK) win the first of 3 consecutive US AAU National Championships, only to fall to the Edmonton Grads each year for the International Champions.
The United States joins the International Amateur Basketball Federation (FIBA) which recognized the AAU as the organization responsible for selecting and overseeing the US teams.
1935:
California: A group of Nisei (second generation Japanese) women based out of the Central Y decide to formalize their basketball teams under the name of Southern California Women’s Basketball League. Following a successful first season, the Women’s Athletic Union of the Japanese Y, the W.A.U. was formed. In the first official year of the W.A.U., 18 teams played in A and B leagues.
1936:
Rules: Center throw-in mandatory (no jump-ball to start game).
The All-American Red Heads are founded by C.M. Olson of Cassville, Missouri. The most successful women’s barnstorming team ever, they only played men’s teams and by men’s rules. Featured in popular magazines and on television, they continued to play up through the mid-seventies.
U.S.B.R. (United States Bureau of Reclamation) ladies basketball team.
NCCA breaks from YMCA/AAU.
California: In Oakland, 144 female basketball players participate in the Industrial Recreational Association, made up of 80 plants.
1937:
Missouri votes to limit girls to one game a week and eliminate tournament play.
Late 1930’s:
Tuskeegee Institute hosts national black high school tournaments for both boys and girls.
1938:
Rules: Three-court game changed nationally to two-court game with six players per team at all levels. A team is three guards and three forwards. Only forwards can score but all players are part of action.
1939:
A survey shows 25% of black colleges object to women participating in intercollegiate sports, while 83% of white colleges are against women participating in varsity athletics.
Auburn, WA: Japanese Girls Courier League Basketball Champions. Sponsored by the Japanese-American Courier (1928-1942).
Texas: From 1939-1954 the “High School Girls‘ Basketball League of Texas” (HSGBLT) held a state high school girls tournament in Waco.
1940:
Canada: With onset of WWII, the Edmonton Grads take to the court for the last time as their arena is needed by the army. Team finishes with a record of 502-20.
Iowa: Hansell High School wins state championship in front of 7,000 fans at Drake University. 70% of the teams come from schools of fewer than 100.
1942:
Granada Relocation Center in Amache, CO: While the beginning of WWII signaled the end of most West Coast teams, that did not stop Japanese-American women from playing basketball. Even when shipped to internment camps, the game continued. This photo highlights a game between the Granada High School girls team and a girls team from the Granada Relocation Center newspaper.
1942-43:
Rules: Team scored against, either by field goal or free throw, gets ball at center court (previously, possession alternated after each goal, also at center court).
American Institute of Commerce “Stenos,” based in Davenport, IA, win AAU national championship. Most of the players were preparing for careers as secretaries or stenographers.
1943:
Poston, AZ: Colorado River Japanese-American Relocation Center New Year’s Fair. A basketball game is part of the athletic events commemorating the New Year.
Iowa: Wesleyan College decides to field a competitive (not intramural) team. Within two years, the Wesleyan Tigerettes were competing in regional AAU tournaments. (AAU teams included: Dr. Swett’s Root Beer based in Des Moines, Maytag Company in Newton, Northwestern Bell, Look Magazine, Armstrong Tire, Meredith Publishing.)
1944:
March 18: Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Heart Mountain, WY: In a game between the Heart Mountain Relocation Center and the Powell High School girls, the Heart Mountain girls emerge victorious, 32-24.
1945:
Close to 10,000 companies sponsor sports programs for their workers, looking to fill extra hours of now reduced work week. Basketball teams include: Hanes Hosiery, Cooks Goldblum (brewery in Nashville), Dr Pepper in Arkansas, and the Atlanta Blues, an independent team. They scheduled games against each other during a regular season on weekends, culminating in the AAU national tournament.
1946:
Iowa: 16 papers carry syndicated column by Rod H. Chisholm about Iowa girls basketball called “Queens of the Court.” 9 radio stations set up broadcast booths at the state tournament.
1947:
Rules: Players must wear numbers both front and back.
Sports writer and broadcaster Red Barber interviews Gene Shumate, a Des Moines radio commentator, about Iowa girls basketball on Barber’s nationally syndicated radio show.
1949:
Rules: Limited two-bounce dribble with no height definition allowed, as well as a timeout for all fouls and free throws, and guarding is redefined-one or both arms, legs or body in any plane now permitted.
Hazel Walker, an All-America AAU basketball player from 1933 to ’45; and AP’s female athlete of the year in ’40, founds the barnstorming Arkansas Travelers; she toured with them until ’65.
1950:
Rules: NSWA rule book shows that the official “maximum” size of the court is 94 feet in length by 50 feet in width.
1951:
Rules: Rule change allows coaching during timeouts and halftime.
AAU national tournament is now a week long festival that showcases the best female players in the country and attracts thousands of fans. Hanes Hosiery, coached by Virgil Yow, wins first of 3 AAU titles (’51, ’52, ’53).
Hanes Hosiery wins the first of three consecutive AAU national titles featuring eight-time AAU All-American (1947-54) and 3-time tournament MVP Lurlyne Greer Rogers. Rogers, who also played for Cook’s Goldblumes, was captain of the first U.S. Pan American team in 1955.
1952-53:
Missouri Arledge is the first black woman to play in a national Amateur Athletic Union tournament.
Mid 1950’s:
An African American team from Philander Smith College in Little Rock, AR participates in the national AAU tournament.
1953:
Rules: Overtime period established. Following one overtime, games are decided by “sudden death.”
Rules: NSGWS rule book shows the “minimum” size is 72 feet by 42 feet.
US wins gold in first World Championships. Held in Santiago, Chile, the team includes many players from the AAU National Championship team, the Nashville Business College (NBC), and coached by NBC’s John Head.
The Amateur Basketball Association of America (now USA Basketball) takes over as governing body of US international competition. Teams and coaches for Pan American game, World Championships, and Olympics would come mainly from colleges.
1954:
Wayland Baptist College “Flying Queens” (TX) win the AAU title, and again in ‘55. They won again in ’56 and ’57 under coach Harley Redin.
The Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union is formed under the direction of Wayne Cooley, which successfully works to establish a state-wide program for girls sports equal to that for boys. By 1974 almost 500 Iowa schools have full girls’ programs, which included equal coaches salaries, better media coverage, and end of season championships for girls and boys.
1955:
Rules: Three seconds in the lane is a violation.
USA women’s basketball team, coached by Caddo Mathews, plays in first Pan-American Games basketball competition in Mexico City and wins the gold medal.
1956:
Rules: Ball can be tied-up with two hands around ball held by opponent.
1957:
US defeats Soviet Union 51-48 to win the gold medal at the World Championships in Brazil. Rover Nera White selected best basketball player in the world.
1958:
March 20-22: Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) sponsors its first Girls’ State Basketball Tournament at David Lipscomb College in Nashville. Loretto High wins the title by defeating Isaac Litton 57- 45.
Flying Queens lose in the semi-finals of the national AAU tournament (46-42, Nashville Business College), snapping a winning streak of 131 games, unmatched in women’s college or AAU play.
1959:
Rules: A missed free throw continues in play (bringing back the art of rebounding).
1960’s:
Barnstorming teams reach a peak with teams like the Texas Cow Girls, Arkansas Lassies, Chocolate Co-Eds, and Harlem Chicks.
1960:
Under the direction of coach Martha Baptista, Wheaton College returns to intercollegiate play. Between 1964-68, they compiled a record of 41-3. They were one of the best teams in the country those four seasons, and in the 1967-68 season finished with an undefeated recorded in 11 games.
1961:
Rules: After successful field goal or free throw, other team gets ball at the end line. Three-bounce dribble allowed. Each team is permitted two players to roam the entire court and “snatching” the ball once again is permitted.
The Iowa Girls Basketball Hall of Fame is created by the IGHSAU. Doris Ward of the 1920 Correctionville team is the first inductee.
1962-1969:
Nashville Business College, coached by John Head wins first of eight consecutive AAU National Championships. With no age limit, rovers Nera White and Joan Crawford (additional link) continue to dominate.
1964:
Rules: Player can hold ball indefinitely if not closely guarded; five seconds if closely guarded (instead of three seconds). Part of old vertical guarding rule returns as “holding both arms extended horizontally” is prohibited. Two free throws awarded last two minutes of each half “to make it unprofitable to deliberately foul.” All these changes are made by a joint committee of the Division of Girls’ and Women’s Sports (now the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport – NAGWS) and the AAU.
Fran Koening and Carol Walter are the first women to officiate at an AAU national tournament.
1966:
Rules: Continuous, unlimited dribble becomes official.
Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics (CIA) created by physical education instructors to oversee national tournaments for women in basketball and other sports.
1967:
CIA forms the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) and is not associated with NCAA, which has no wish to sponsor women’s tournaments.
April 14-23: The US National Team managed just one win at the World Championships in Prague, Czechoslavakia. The team featured five AAU All-Americans and five players from the Raytown Piperettes, however no players from the AAU Champion Nashville Business College were on the squad. Among the players who made the trip was Lori Lindahl, a multi-sport athlete (1959-61) from Long Beach, CA who played basketball, volleyball, softball, tennis and badminton. She also played AAU ball on two California teams Anamill and National General West back when AUU focused on “industrial” teams made up of players high school age and beyond. “She was an unbelievable scorer,” said teammate Annie Meyers, “and had a soft touch, that when left open for a split second, she would tickle the twine. She also was one of the most poised players I saw play, hardly getting frustrated.” When Meyers played for the AAU team Anna’s Bananas, Lorie served as assistant coach to Ann’s sister Patty as the team won three consecutive AAU championships (1977-79).
1968:
Rules: Coaching from the sidelines is no longer a foul.
November 28: Penny Ann Early becomes the first woman to “play” in a men’s professional league. The nation’s first licensed female horse jockey was signed by the American Basketball Association’s Kentucky Colonels though she had no prior basketball experience. She checked into the game, inbounded the ball, and then was replaced by a substitute.
A US Women’s team plays in the Paralympics.
1969:
Denise Long is the first woman drafted by the NBA – the San Francisco Warriors 13th pick. She didn’t play for them, but did work out with the team. In 1982 she was named to the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.
First year of NWIT (National Women’s Invitational Tournament): 1st Wayland Baptist; 2nd Ouachita Baptist; 3rd Midwestern Oklahoma State; 4th John F. Kennedy.
Conference on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (CIAW) First National Invitational Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament held. Held at West Chester State College in Pennsylvania under auspices of AIAW and organized by Carol Eckman, it’s the first time women competed in a national tournament without AAU teams. The single elimination, invitational tournament featured 16 teams from around the country. West Chester State defeated Western Carolina in a championship game played by six player rules. (1st West Chester, 2nd Western Carolina, 3rd Iowa Wesleyan, 4th Iowa.)
1970’s:
For women who wished to play after college, AAU continues to be an alternative. Shelia Moorman, for instance, played for Raytown Piperettes and the U.S. National Basketball Team.
1970:
Northeastern University coach Jeanne Rowlands organizes and hosts the National Invitational Tournament, the last played by six-player rules. Cal State-Fullerton (coached by Billie Jean Moore) defeated West Chester State. 1st Cal State-Fullerton, 2nd West Chester, 3rd Ursinus, 4th Western Carolina.
1971:
Rules: Five-player, full-court game and 30-second clock become official under AAU/DGWS rules (not Iowa or Oklahoma).
CIAW NIT held at Western Carolina University. 1st Mississippi College for Women, 2nd West Chester State, 3rd North Carolina, 4th Southern Connecticut State.
Marian E. Washington and Colleen Bowser, of the Raytown Piperettes (MO) are the first two black women to play for the United States in international competition. Washington later went on to be the first African-American to coach a United States national team in international play when she coached the US Select Team to a 7 -1 record in 1983.
President Richard Nixon signs Title IX of the Educational Amendment of 1972, stating that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal assistance.” More women playing sports in college meant less going from high school to playing for traveling teams, signaling the end of those teams.
1972:
Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) hold the first women’s national collegiate basketball championship at Illinois Sate University. Teams were chosen according to a regional qualifying structure that broke the country into 16 regions. Under coach Cathy Rush, Immaculata defeats West Chester 52-48. 3rd Mississippi-Women, 4th Cal State-Fullerton. AIAW governs women’s sports until it was incorporated into the NCAA in 1982.
Recognizing they’ll soon be shut out from governing basketball, college and above, the AAU national convention passes a motion to start a national basketball tournament for girls 15-and-under and 18-and-under.
1973:
After more than 20 years coaching at the high school level, Margaret Wade returns to coach at Delta State, where she’d been a star in the 1920’s. Amateur Basketball Association of the United States (ABAUSA) formed, replacing the AAU as national governing body.
AIAW first offers college scholarships to female athletes.
First AAU National Tournament held in 1973 in New Orleans, LA. 16 teams participate.
AIAW makes national tournament a 4-day affair. Immaculata (defeated Southern Connecticut State College) defeats Queens College (defeats Indiana University) 59-52 to win the Championship. The tournament earns a profit of $4,631.
Michigan sponsors the first state high school girl’s basketball championship. Though some reports suggest girl’s basketball predated boy’s basketball (1898), the Depression, social and financial pressures forced cutbacks – girl’s athletics being one victim.<p>
1974:
ABAUSA officially recognized by both FIBA and the US Olympic Committee.
Colleges start offering scholarships to female athletes.
November 29: Cindi Meserve of Pratt Institute is the first woman to play in a college men’s basketball game.
AIAW: Immaculata defeats Mississippi College. 3rd Southern Connecticut State, 4th William Penn.
Kentucky: State Senator Nicholas Baker’s Bill 73, known as the “Basketball Bill“, is passed. The bill stated that all schools that have a varsity basketball team for boys must have a girls’ basketball team.
1975:
Rules: 20-minute halves and the bonus free throw. The latter awards no free throws on the first six common fouls of each half, then a free throw is awarded plus a bonus if it is made. Free throws never are taken for offensive fouls and always taken if against a player in the act of shooting-or in case of a flagrant foul. Half time is increased to 15 minutes.
January 27: First national television exposure. A game between University of Maryland and Immaculata is televised on a major television network. The 1975 AIAW championship was nationally televised on a delayed basis.
February 22, New York: First women’s inter-college basketball game played at Madison Square Garden. 11,969 watch Immaculata defeat Queens College.
March: Eastman Kodak Company sponsors the inaugural Women’s Basketball Coaches Clinic in conjunction with the national women’s basketball collegiate championships, marking the first women’s basketball corporate sponsorship. Kodak also sponsors the first-ever Kodak All-America Team.
The women’s division of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is formed. The first national championship (invitational) is held the same year.
Under Coach Wade, Delta State goes undefeated, beating Immaculata 90-81 to win the first of 3 consecutive AIAW national championships. 3rd Cal State-Fullerton 4th, Southern Connecticut State.
US National Wheelchair Basketball Association holds its first women’s national tournament.
Women’s Professional Basketball Association. Talks of creating a league including the traveling teams Arkansas Lassies and Indianapolis Pink Panthers, as well as teams in Atlanta, Greenville, Nashville, and Winston-Salem. Nothing emerges. (Karen Logan a member of the Panthers. Logan played in the first professional women’s game as a player in the WBL).
Kentucky: After a 43-year lapse, the state sponsored basketball championship for girls returns. Butler High School of Louisville wins. In the year after the “Basketball Bill” is passed, the number of girls teams in the state increases from 111 to 300.
1976:
November: Mel Greenberg, a journalist from the Philadelphia Inquirer, compiles and releases the first women’s basketball Top 20 national poll.
December 3: Carol Turney of St. Mary’s in Halifax, Nova Scotia sets the Canadian collegiate record after scoring 50 points in one game.
All-American Red Head Karen Logan defeats Jerry West in a game of H-O-R-S-E on CBS national television.
AIAW: Delta State defeats Immaculata. 3rd Wayland Baptist, 4th William Penn.
Women’s basketball makes its Olympic debut in Montreal under coaches Billie Jean Moore and Sue Gunter. Lusia Harris of Delta State scores the first basket, and team wins the Silver in the round-robin competition. Nancy Lieberman remains the youngest women’s basketball player in Olympic history to win a medal (she was 18).
1977:
March 6: Carol Blazejowski of Montclair State sets the record for most points scored in a college game (male or female) with 52.
All states but New York have restored sanctioned state tournaments. Before 1973, only 8 states had high school basketball tournaments for girls.
AIAW: University of Minnesota hosts. Delta State University defeats Louisiana State University 68-55. 3rd Tennessee, 4th Immaculata.
Lusia Harris, 6’3″ center from Delta State University, is awarded the first Broderick Cup as the most outstanding athlete in the AIAW.
Lusia Harris is drafted by the NBA’s New Orleans Jazz, seventh round – she does not sign a contract.
Coached by Queens College’s Lucille Kyvallos, US participates in the World University Games for first time.
1978:
March: First “Final Four” for women held at UCLA’s Pauley Pavillion, televised by NBC (the game was taped-delayed one day on NBC’s Sportsworld). UCLA defeats Maryland before a record crowd of 9,351. 3rd Montclair State 4th Wayland Baptist. Billie Moore becomes first coach to lead 2 teams to national championships: Cal State Fullerton in 1970 and UCLA in 1978.
AIAW expands college tournament to 32 teams that will play each other at four satellite sites, the four regional winners advance to the first “Final Four.”
Carol Blazejowski of Montclair State named as inaugural recipient of Wade Trophy. Established by NAGWS, the trophy honors the Nation’s finest female collegiate player.
Women’s Basketball League (WBL) is founded by Bill Byrne. It features eight teams: Chicago Hustle, Dayton Rockettes, Houston Angels, Iowa Cornets, Milwaukee Does, Minnesota Fillies, New Jersey Gems, and New York Stars.) They play a 34-game schedule the first year, and 6000 fans in Houston watch the Angels defeat the Cornets for first WBL Championship. 111-104.
July 18: The Women’s Basketball League (WBL) holds its first draft. Among the players selected during the three-hour draft were former Miss America and sports broadcaster Phyllis George, 7’4″ Ulina Semonova of the Soviet Union, Ann Meyers, Carol Blazejowski, and Luisa Harris. (Source: NY Times.)
1979:
September 5: Ann Meyers is signed as a free agent by the NBA’s Indiana Pacers. She is cut after a three-day tryout.
Ann Meyers is first woman to carry American flag at the Opening Ceremonies of the Pan Am Games.
The WBL expands to 14 teams, adding the Dallas Diamonds, San Francisco Pioneers, California Dream, New Orleans Pride, Philadelphia Fox, and Washington DC Metros. New York wins the second WBL championship.
AIAW: Old Dominion defeats Louisiana Tech (national television). 3rd Tennessee, 4th UCLA. ODU head coach Marianne Stanley becomes the first woman to win a championship as both a player and a coach.
First Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament for women played in Logan Hall at Tuskeegee University (the men’s tournament was played at the same location in 1934).
1980:
Ladies Professional Basketball Association (LPBA). Teams: New Mexico Energee, Oakland, Phoenix Flames, San Jose Chips, Southern California Breeze, Tucson Storm. Played part of one month and folded.
AIAW: ODU defeats Tennessee 68-53. 3rd South Carolina, 4th Louisiana Tech.
US does not compete in the Moscow Olympics.
Carol Blazejowski is named recipient of first USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year Award.
January 22: Bettye McClendon becomes the first female to officiate a men’s game (Morris Brown vs. Clark College). Three years earlier she became the first female to officiate a girls high school state championship in Georgia. McClendon was also Georgia’s first female track and field starter. She also was the first female to officiate NCAA Division II women’s basketball tournaments. In 2006 she was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, along with Lea Henry-Manning who was the starting point guard for the gold medal-winning 1984 US Olympic team. (Source: Macon Telegraph).
1981:
January 23: Annette Kennedy of SUNY-Purchase sets an AIAW record with 70 points in her team’s 116-21 win over the Pratt Institute.
February 13: In front of 53 spectators at Philadelphia’s Murrell Dobbins Tech, Linda Page scored 100 points in a 131-37 destruction of Jules Mastbaum Tech. She was 41-for-58 (71 percent) from the floor, 18-for-21 (86 percent) in free throws, had 19 rebounds, five assists and seven steals. She also had six three-point plays – that’s a made basket plus a free throw as the three-point shot wouldn’t be allowed for seven more years. Oh, it also happened to be Friday the 13th. The next day, the Philadelphia Daily News ran the headline “Sixers Could’ve Used Page” and featured a photo of Page next to Philadelphia 76ers star Julius Erving on the front page. Page was then introduced at that evening’s NBA game at center court while standing next to Erving. She would then go on to break Wilt Chamberlains high school career scoring record (2,206 career points) with 2,383 points as well as his senior scoring average record (44.5 points) with an average of 48.2 points per game. She would go on to play at North Carolina State where she ended her career with 2,307 points and a place in the school’s records books – some of those records still stand today. (source: Philadelphia Daily News, 2006.)
November 17: Orna Ostfeld of Maccabi Ramat-Chen in the Israeli league, scores 108 points in a 221-21 win, setting the record for most points scored by a player in a women’s professional game.
AAU having lost status as Olympic training ground, begins offering tournaments for 12-and-under.
Nebraska Wranglers win 3rd, and last, WBL championship.
Lynnette Woodard finishes her career at the University of Kansas as women’s college basketball’s all-time leading scorer with 3,649 points (before the 3pt line). Note: The NCAA keeps the AIAW’s records separate from its own.
5’9″ Cardte Hicks (S.F. Pioneers of the WBL) dunks during warm ups before the all-star game.
AIAW: University of Oregon hosts championship. Louisiana Tech, defeats Tennessee 79-59. Old Dominion and Southern California are the other two participants.
First year of NAIA Women’s National Championships.
NCAA decides to offer its own women’s basketball tournaments. The AIAW files antitrust suite against the NCAA, charging they don’t have the women’s best interests at heart. (NCAA had publicly opposed the passage of Title IX).
Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) formed. Their first convention is held in 1982 at Virginia Beach in conjunction with the NCAA tournament. 100 coaches attend.
1982:
AIAW: University of Pennsylvania hosts final tournament. Rutgers defeats University of Texas. 3rd Wayland Baptist, 4th Villanova. The AIAW disbands and dismisses antitrust suit against the NCAA.
First NCAA-sponsored Division I women’s basketball Final Four championship held at Old Dominion University. CBS televised the game as Louisiana Tech (def. Tennessee) defeated Cheyney State (def. Maryland) 76-62. The championship was a 32-team bracket, with first-round games at home sites of top seeds, followed by four regional tournaments. All-Tournament team: Janice Lawrence, Louisiana Tech; Pam Kelly, Louisiana Tech; Valerie Walker, Cheyney; Kim Mulkey, Louisiana Tech; Yolanda Laney, Cheyney. Drake’s Lorri Bauman sets record by scoring 50 points in a tournament game.
Springfield, MA: California Polytechnic University in Pomona, led by Jackie White defeats Tuskegee University (Alabama) in the first Division II national championship sponsored by the NCAA.
Elizabethtown College (PA) defeats Greensboro College (GA) in the first Division III national championship sponsored by the NCAA.
1983:
AAU adds in 16-and-under and 14-and-under age groups.
The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and Naismith Player of the Year awards are given for the first time. Winner: ODU’s Ann Donovan. Tennessee’s Pat Summitt is the first Coach of the Year.
ESPN televises NCAA tournament games before the championship. CBS carries the final game.
NCAA Division I Championship: USC (def. Georgia) defeats Louisiana Tech (def. Old Dominion) 69-67.
Kodak/WBCA All-America teams for NCAA Division II and the NAIA, NCAA Division III, and junior colleges are added.
1984:
Rules: A smaller ball, about one inch less in circumference (becoming 28 1/2 to 29 inches) and two ounces lighter (18 to 20 ounces) than the previous ball, is approved.
December 21: West Virginia’s Georgeann Wells (6’7″ junior) dunks in a game against the University of Charleston, making her the first woman to dunk in a collegiate game. She repeats the feat when the Mountaineers played Xavier a few games later. Inducted into Phi Slama Jama, the dunking fraternity, the ball is now in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.
WABA, another attempt at women’s professional league forms. Nancy Lieberman is a member, but the league folds. Teams: Atlanta Comets, Chicago Spirit, Columbus Minks, Dallas Diamonds, Houston Shamrocks, Virginia Wave.
NCAA Division I Championship: Tournament expanded from 32 to 40 teams. Held in Los Angeles. USC (def. Louisiana Tech) defeated Tennessee (def. Cheyney State) 72-61. MVP: Cheryl Miller.
USA captures its first Olympic gold medal in Los Angeles under coach Pat Head Summitt of the University of Tennessee.
Darlene May becomes the first female to officiate an Olympic women’s basketball game.
Women’s American Basketball formed: Players include Nancy Lieberman, Molly Bolin, Pam McGee and Carla McGee, but most of the league’s teams fold during the first season.
1985:
NCAA Women’s Basketball Rules Committee is formed. Rule changes: Offensive fouls only are on the player with ball-not the entire team. Fumble, dribble, fumble is allowed. Bottom lane space on free throw must be filled-no longer optional.
NCAA Division I Championship: Old Dominion (def. Northeast Louisiana-Monroe) defeats Georgia (def. Western Kentucky) 70-65.
First women are inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Senda Berenson Abbott, Margaret Wade, Bertha F. Teague.
Inaugural Women’s Junior World Championships held in Colorado Springs. Soviet Union wins title, US finishes fifth.
Lynette Woodard first woman to play with the Harlem Globetrotters.
Kodak/WBCA adds separate All-America teams for NCAA Division II and the NAIA athletes.
Iowa: First five-player state tournament. Schools may select either five- or six-player game. The six-player game continues until 1993.
1986:
Rules: Coaches must stay in the coaching box and may not leave without the chance of a technical foul. Alternating possession arrow is introduced-jump ball to start game and overtimes. Only head coach may stand during live ball.
National Women’s Basketball Association formed. The league signs WBL star Molly Bolin, but doesn’t make it to the first season.
Nancy Lieberman becomes the first woman to play in a men’s professional basketball league when she plays for the USBL’s Springfield Fame and Long Island Knights.
NCAA Division I Championship: Texas (def. Western Kentucky) defeats USC (def. Tennessee) 97-81. Jody Conradt, of the University of Texas, becomes first NCAA Division I women’s basketball coach to take a team undefeated in regular-season and postseason play and win the national.
Crystal Coleman of Bishop College sets record for points scored in a Division III tournament game with 50.
1987:
Rules: Three-point field goal is introduced and set at 19 feet, 9 inches from center of basket. No goal is allowed when a personal foul is committed by airborne shooter. Interrupted dribble is legal. Only the four marked lane spaces on the free-throw lane may be occupied.
AAU starts 13-and-under and 11-and-under programs.
Naismith Female High School Player of the Year award begun. Winner: Lynn Lorenzen of Ventura High School in Ventura, IA.
Naismith Coach of the Year is Pat Head Summitt, University of Tennessee.
NCAA Division I Championship: Tennessee (def. Long Beach State) defeats Louisiana Tech (def. Texas) 66-44.
Brazil’s Hortencia sets the record for most points scored in a basketball game by a female professional with 121. The contest’s final score was 251-27.
1988:
Inspired by issues of minority advancement, the Black Coaches Association (BCA) is founded.
AAU, begins organizing leagues and tournaments for girls 12 and up.
March 19: Claflin’s Miriam Walker scores 62 points in a tournament game, setting the NAIA Division I record for points in a game.
NCAA Division I Championship: Louisiana Tech (def. Tennessee) defeats Auburn (def. Long Beach State) 56-54. LA Tech overcame a 14-point deficit to win – the largest comeback in championship history. Leon Barmore is first man to coach a women’s team to the national championship since Harley Redin’s Wayland Baptists teams and John Head’s Nashville Business teams dominated in the ’50s and ‘60s.
Niki Bracken of Cal Poly-Pomona sets record for points scored in a Division II tournament game with 44.
United States Basketball Writers Association begins to name Women’s All-America Teams.
USA wins gold medal at the Seoul Olympics, coached by Kay Yow of North Carolina State University. Team invited by MTV to sing rap song composed by team member Cynthia Cooper.
Nancy Lieberman joins the Washington Generals on their tour with the Harlem Globetrotters.
1989:
Rules: Closely guarded distance while holding the ball is six feet, not three. Time-outs 75 seconds, not 60. Technical fouls of any kind are two shots.
NCAA Division I Championship: expands from 40 to 48 teams. Tennessee (def. Maryland) defeats Auburn (def. Louisiana Tech) 76-60.
The ABAUSA changes name to USA Basketball, based in Colorado Springs.
1990:
Pat Summitt is the first woman to receive the John Bunn Award, the most prestigious honor given by the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Bernadette Mattox becomes first woman to coach a Division I men’s team, serving as assistant coach at the University of Kentucky under Rick Pitino.
March 28: Oklahoma announces it will cancel the women’s basketball program. Nine days later, after a public outcry, the program is reinstated.
NCAA Division I Championship: Knoxville: Women’s Final Four outdraws the men’s. Stanford (def. Virginia) defeats Auburn (def. Louisiana Tech) 88-81.
1991:
Rules: Contact technical fouls count toward a player’s five fouls for disqualification and toward the bonus. The shot clock will be reset when the ball hits the rim instead of when the ball leaves the shooter’s hand.
February 22: Jackie Givens of Fort Valley State sets an NCAA Division II record with her 67-point game.
July 15: Sandra Oriz-Del Valle becomes first woman to officiate a men’s professional basketball game – the New Haven Skyhawks vs. the Philadelphia Spirit in the United States Basketball League.
Erin Tharp of Clark County College sets the collegiate scoring record (all divisions) after scoring 79 points in one game.
The Liberty Basketball Association (LBA) begins, using 9’2″ high baskets, a 25″ circumference basketball and skin-tight unitards. The league survives one game as the Detroit Dazzlers defeated the LBA All-Stars at the Palace of Auburn Hills in front of 10,753 spectators on ESPN.
NCAA Division I Championship: Tennessee (def. Stanford) defeats Virginia (def. Connecticut) 70-67 (OT). This is the first championship game to be decided in overtime.
For the first time, a jury awards monetary damages for a lawsuit filed under Title IX. Sanya Tyler, women’s basketball coach at Howard University for 11 years, charges the University with discrimination, claiming she was denied the job of athletic director and was being paid less than the men’s basketball coach, despite her team’s superior record. As a result, other women coaches begin insisting on equal pay.
1992:
NCAA Division I Championship: Stanford (def. Virginia) defeats Western Kentucky (def. Southwest Missouri State) 78-62.
Women’s World Basketball Association (WWBA) is launched in the Midwest with six teams. It folds shortly thereafter.
US wins bronze medal at Barcelona Olympics. Their lowest-placed finish in history.
Nera White of the Nashville Business College team is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
1993:
Rules: The game clock will be stopped after successful field goals in the last minute of the game and the last minute of any overtime period.
February 10: Bridgete Williams of Los Angeles Harbor College scores 72 points in a game against Long Beach City College.
Women’s Basketball Association (WBA) founded and survives until 1995.
Marianne Stanley sues University of Southern California who fired her after she turned down an $89,000 a year contract because the men’s coach made $130,000.
NCAA Division I Championship: Atlanta: Texas Tech (def. Vanderbilt) defeats Ohio State (def. University of Iowa) 84-82, Sheryl Swoopes scores an NCAA tournament championship record 47 points. The highest-rated women’s final since networks had began broadcasting it, it led to an almost instant sellout of 1994 Final Four months before the season started.
Iowa finally gives up the six-player game. Oklahoma is last state to switch (1995).
Sheryl Swoopes signs contract with Nike for a personalized sneaker. Like Michael Jordan’s Air Jordan, her Air Swoopes will sell for $115 a pair.
Nancy Lieberman becomes the first woman inducted in the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.
Jim Smiddy, head coach at Bradley Central High School Bearettes in Cleveland, TN retires as the winningest coach in high school girls basketball history with 1,217 wins. His 44-year career record was 1217-206. He guided his teams to five state championships, won the national championship in 1975 & 1976 when his teams went undefeated, and his teams compiled a 90-game winning-streak, surpassing the 88-game streak turned in by Wooden’s 1972-74 UCLA teams. Smiddy’s teams won 24 district (13 straight), 17 regional, and 14 sub-state titles. He was part of the inaugural Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame induction class in 1999.
1994:
December 4: Charlotte Smith, University of North Carolina, becomes the second woman to dunk in a collegiate game during a win against North Carolina A&T.
NCAA Division I women’s basketball field expands from 48 to 64 teams. All 32 eligible conferences are awarded automatic qualification. The Division I Women’s Basketball Committee seed 16 teams nationally and the remaining teams are placed in each regional bracket. The Division III field was expanded to 40.
NCAA Division I Championship: Richmond: North Carolina (def. Purdue) defeats Louisiana Tech (def. Alabama) on Charlotte Smith’s buzzer beating 3-pointer, 60-59.
1995:
September: American Basketball League (ABL) founded by Anne Cribbs, Steve Hams and Gary Cavalli. Teams: Atlanta Glory, Columbus Quest, Long Beach Sting Rays, New England Blizzard, Portland Power Richmond-Philadelphia Rage, San Jose Lasers, Seattle Reign, Nashville Noise, Colorado Xplosion. The will play a 40 game season.
C. Vivian Stringer becomes head coach of Rutgers University (NJ), and is the first female coach to earn a base pay of $150,000.
The first United States Senior Women’s National Team compiles an undefeated record of 52-0 against NCAA and international opponents.
Kerri-Ann McTiernan becomes the first woman head coach of a men’s college team, taking over at Brooklyn’s Kingsborough Community College.
University of Texas’ Jody Conradt is first women’s basketball coach to win 600 games.
NCAA Division I Championship: Minneapolis: University of Connecticut (def. Stanford) defeats University of Tennessee (def, Georgia) 70-64. Under coach Geno Auriemma, UConn becomes the second team to go undefeated and capture a national championship (35-0). A record 5.4 million TV viewers (19,000 in attendance) watch.
The Associated Press selects its first All-American team for women’s college basketball.
1996:
April 24: The WNBA established by the NBA. Teams: Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets, Los Angeles Sparks, New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs, Utah Starzz. They will play a 28 game schedule.
October 18: the New England Blizzard and the Richmond Rage play the ABL’s inaugural game in Hartford, CT.
December 8: Debbie Black of the ABL’s Colorado Xplosion achieves one of basketball’s rarest feats a quadruple-double, with 10 points, 12 assists, 10 steals and 14 rebounds.
AAU adds 10-and-under divisions. 17-and-under division is added in 1997.
US Women’s Olympic “Dream Team” captures the gold medal in Atlanta.
NCAA Division I Championship: University of Tennessee (University of Connecticut) defeats Georgia (Stanford) 83-65.
1997:
Rules: Beginning with the 10th foul in a half, two free throws are awarded for each common foul.
June 21: the New York Liberty and the Los Angeles Sparks play the WNBA’s inaugural game at the Los Angeles Western Forum.
Jody Conradt of University of Texas, becomes the eighth coach, and first woman, to win 700 games.
Dee Kantner and Violet Palmer become first female officials in the NBA.
Columbus Quest defeat Richmond Rage for first ABL championship.
NCAA Division I Championship: University of Tennessee (def. Notre Dame) defeats Old Dominion (def. Stanford) 68-59. ESPN – who’d won the contract by promising to show a number of games during the season and some early round tournament games – broadcasts the game.
Houston Comets defeat the New York Liberty 65-51 for the first WNBA Championship.
US women’s Junior National Team wins gold at the FIBA world championship, the US team’s first medal in the event.
1998:
January: 6’5″ Sylvia Crawley of the ABL’s Colorado Xplosion wins the league’s first Slam Dunk Contest by performing a blind-folded dunk during the All-Star Game in Florida. The New England Blizzard’s Kara Wolters (6’7″) and the Seattle Reign’s Linda Godby (6’6″) also participate, coming in second and third respectively.
March: Columbus Quest defeats the Long Beach Sting Ray for their second ABL Championship.
December: The ABL suspends operations and files for bankruptcy.
NCAA Division I Championship: Kansas City, MO. Tennessee (def. Arkansas) defeated Louisiana Tech (def, North Carolina State) 93-75 for the NCAA Division I Championship. University of Tennessee‘s Pat Summitt becomes the third coach to go undefeated (39-0) and win a Championship. Summitt is also the first women’s basketball to win three championships in a row, as well as the first coach to win six national championships (‘87, ‘89, ‘91, ‘96, ‘97, and ‘98.)
Houston Comets defeat the Phoenix Mercury for their second WNBA Championship.
WNBA adds the Washington Mystics and Detroit Shock.
1999:
January 27: Fans organize an All-Star game, called “HoopSalute” for the players from the defunct ABL at DeAnza College in Cupertino, CA.
June 3: Grand opening and induction of the Inaugural Class of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, TN. Inductees: Senda Berenson Abbott, Carol Blazejowski, Joanne Bracker, Jody Conradt, Joan Crawford, Denise Curry, Anne Donovan, Carol Eckman, Betty Jo Braber, Lusia Harris Stewart, Nancy Lieberman-Cline, Darlene May, Ann Meyers-Drysdale, Cheryl Miller, Billie Moore, Pat Summitt, Margaret Wade, Nera White, Bertha Teague, Jim Smiddy, Uljana Semjonova, Harley Redin, Shin-ja Park, John Head, and Lidia Alexevia.
WNBA adds Orlando Miracle and Minnesota Lynx.
NCAA Division I Championship: San Jose. Purdue (def. Louisiana Tech) defeats Duke (def. Georgia) 62-45.
Houston Comets defeat the New York Liberty for their third straight WNBA Championship.
Women’s Basketball Timeline: 2000’s
2000:
Rules: Uniforms may include a logo or mascot at the center or apex of the neck-line on a game jersey. Only a team abbreviation was permitted in that space previously. The color, style and design of all teammates’ game jerseys and game pants must be alike.
November 25: Michelle Snow, University of Tennessee, becomes the third woman to dunk in a collegiate game and the first perform the feat on television in 111-62 win over Illinois State at the Maui Invitational Tournament.
Jennifer Johnston s named assistant coach for the Oakland (Mich.) University men’s basketball team for three seasons (2000-2003).
WNBA adds the Miami Sol, Indiana Fever, Portland Fire, and the Seattle Storm.
C. Vivian Stringer becomes only coach to take three schools to the Final Four: Cheyney State (1982), the University of Iowa (1993), and Rutgers (2000).
NCAA Division I Championship: University of Connecticut (def. Penn State) defeats University of Tennessee (def. Rutgers) 71-52.
Houston Comets defeat the New York Liberty for their fourth WNBA Championship.
USA captures the gold medal at the Olympics in Sydney, Australia as Teresa Edwards competes in her fifth Olympics. Edwards becomes first basketball player, male or female, to play on five consecutive Olympic teams, and is the most decorated basketball player of either sex: 4 gold medals, one bronze.
Conseco Nancy Lieberman Step Up Award created to honor the nation’s top female Point Guard is created. University of Connecticut’s Sue Bird is first recipient.
National Women’s Basketball Professional League (NWBL) established.
Florida: Syvlia Fowles, 6’5″ freshman from Miami Edison (later Gulliver Prep) in Miami, FL is the first female to dunk in a high school game, performing the feat twice in a state tournament game against South Dade High School.
2001:
Rules: Officials shall be permitted to go to an official courtside monitor to determine if a try for goal is a three- or two-shot attempt, regardless of whether shot is made.
January 23: Michelle Snow, University of Tennessee, becomes the second woman to record two dunks in one season in a 70-61 win at Vanderbilt.
April 11: Jackie Stiles drafted by the USBL’s Dodge City Legend. She became the highest-drafted woman in a men’s professional basketball league. She never suited up for the team.
December: Illinois: Candace Parker, 6’3″ sophomore from Naperville, IL becomes the second woman to dunk in high school competition in a game against Rockton Hononegah during the quarterfinals of the Dundee-Crown holiday tournament. She would dunk a second time the following season.
Jackie Stiles of Southwest Missouri State establishes a new NCAA Division I scoring mark with 3,393 points.
NCAA Division I Championship: St Louis: Notre Dame (def. UConn) defeats Purdue (def. Southwest Missouri State) 68-66.
Stephanie Ready named assistant coach of the Greenville, South Carolina, Groove, a member of the new eight-team NBA developmental league, thus becoming the first female coach of a men’s professional basketball team.
Los Angeles Sparks defeat the New York Liberty for the WNBA Championship, becoming just the second team to win the trophy.
Air Swoopes VI shoe from Nike.
2002:
Both Pat Summitt (University of Tennessee) and Jody Conradt (University of Texas) reach the 800-win milestone.
March 15: Molly Brothers of Suffolk Community College scores 43 points to set the scoring record for points in an NJCAA tournament game.
NCAA Division I Championship: San Antonio: University of Connecticut (def Tennessee) defeats Oklahoma (def. Duke) 82-70. The Championship game is the highest viewed college basketball game ever on ESPN and single largest crowd to watch a women’s college basketball game (29,619). UConn becomes the only team to go undefeated (39-0) twice through regular and post season play and win the National Championship.
McDonald’s selects the best girls high school basketball players in the country and names them to the first McDonald’s All American High School Basketball Team (1977 for boys).
Lisa Leslie of the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks becomes the first women to dunk during a professional game. The Sparks, however, would lose to the visiting Miami Sol.
Los Angeles Sparks defeat the New York Liberty for their second straight WNBA Championship.
WNBA teams the Miami Sol and Portland Fire fold. The Utah Starzz move to San Antonio and become the Silver Stars. The Orlando Miracle move and become the Connecticut Sun. The Sun are the first professional team owned by an Indian Tribe (the Mohegan Tribe). They are also the first professional team associated with a casino (Mohegan Sun Casino).
Air Swoopes Premier shoe from Nike.
Shox Mique shoe from Nike.
2003:
February 13: Tennessee State athletics director Teresa Phillips makes history by becoming the first woman to coach in a Division-I men’s basketball game. Then-interim coach Hosea Lewis was serving a one-game suspension, and Phillips coached the Tigers to a 71-56 loss to Austin Peay.
March: Brittany Hunter, a 6’3″ senior from Brookhaven HS in Columbus, OH becomes the first female to enter the McDonald’s All-America Slam Dunk Contest. She fails, however, to complete any of her three attempts.
March 11: the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team loses 52-48 to Villanova ending the Huskies’ NCAA Division I women’s record 70-game winning streak. The previous women’s D-I record was 54, set in 1980-82 by Louisiana Tech under coaches Sonia Hogg and Leon Barmore.
September 22-23: 25th Anniversary reunion for the WBL held in Chicago.
November 11: High School senior Candace Parker announces she will play for the University of Tennessee during a press conference broadcast live on ESPN News. She’s the first a female high school player to announce her signing in such a fashion.
December 27: Sophomore Amber Harris of North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana dunked in a game against Indianapolis Chatard. (source: Fort Wayne Journal Gazette) Some observers question the dunk because the ball apparently rolled around in the rim before falling in.
NCAA Division I Championship: The University of Connecticut (def. Texas) defeats Tennessee (def Duke) 73-68 in Atlanta. Connecticut becomes the only team to win an NCAA National Championship without a senior on the roster.
The Detroit Shock defeat the Los Angeles Sparks for the WNBA Championship. This marks one of the biggest season-to-season turnarounds in professional sports (the Shock finished the 2002 season with the league’s worst record). The Shock is coached by former Detroit Piston’s star Bill Laimbeer while the Sparks are coached by former Los Angeles Laker Michael Cooper.
2004:
March 29: Candace Parker becomes first woman to win Slam Dunk contest of the McDonald’s High School All-American Game, beating out five male competitors.
May: Ashley McElhiney becomes the first female to be named a head coach for a men’s professional basketball team, the Nashville Rhythm, an expansion team in the American Basketball Association.
NCAA Division I Championship: The University of Connecticut (def. Minnesota) defeats Tennessee (def. LSU) 70-61 in New Orleans to win its third straight championship. The Championship game earned the best ratings for a basketball game – male, female or professional – in ESPN’s 25-year history. The University of Connecticut men’s basketball team also won the Championship, marking the first time a Division I school has won both the men’s and women’s basketball trophy.
June 11: Minnesota Lynx player Katie Smith becomes the fastest WNBA player to reach the 3,000 point mark. Smith is also the all-time leading scorer in women’s professional basketball. (Source: WNBA.Com)
October: Anne Donovan becomes the first woman to coach a team to the WNBA Championship, as the Seattle Storm top the Connecticut Sun two games to one. All three games were sold out.
November 7: Maria Stepanova of Russia’s VBM-SGAU dunks in a game.
November 13: Ashley McElhiney made history as the first woman to coach a men’s pro basketball team. The ABA’s Nashville Rhythm posted a 109-88 victory over the Georgia Reigning Knights.
December 3: North Carolina State Head Coach Kay Yow notched her 600th career win in a home game against Seton Hall. She became just the fourth coach in NCAA women’s basketball history to record 600 wins at the same school.
December 6: Amie Williams, a 6’7″ graduate of Jackson State, becomes the first woman to sign with the ABA. She suited up for the Mississippi Stingers for her first game, ironically against the Nashville Rhythm coached by Ashley McElhiney, but did not play. She would end the season with eight points, three rebounds and a 67% field goal percentage. She would not, however, be on the team’s play-offs roster.
December 8: Rutgers Head Coach C. Vivian Stringer becomes the fourth woman to record 700 career victories in NCAA Division I basketball.
December 11: Delisha Milton-Jones is hired by the Los Angeles Stars of the ABA as an assistant coach. Milton-Jones is married to Stars back-up point guard Roland Jones.
2005:
January 16: Duke-bound Christ the King star Carrem Gay dunked in the third quarter of a game against Red Bank of New Jersey in the “Battle of the Boardwalk” in Asbury Park. “It was pretty neat,” Royals coach Bob Mackey said of the dunk. “It definitely woke the place up.” (source of quote: New York Newsday)
February 4: Amber Harris of North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana dunked during a 67-47 win over Terre Haute North. The dunk put the junior at the 1,000-point mark for her career. Harris has orally agreed to play at Purdue. (source: Indianapolis Star and Chicago Sun-Times).
February 8: WNBA announces the formation of a new franchise in Chicago, Illinois. The team will play their home games on the Illinois-Chicago (UIC) campus, making them the first team to call a college campus “home.” In May they hire NBA Hall-of-Famer Dave Cowens as head coach. In September they announce that the team will be called the “Sky.” On November 12 the expansion draft is held.
March 2: After a tumultuous year which included making international headlines for an on-court confrontation during a game with one of the team’s owners, Ashley McElhiney resigned as head coach of the ABA’s Nashville Rhythm. Her final record with the team was 21-10. Though the team qualified for the play-offs, the team’s ownership refused the berth, capping a bizarre season.
March 9: Michelle Snow, playing for Italian team Parma, dunks in a game. The dunk was the first one by a woman in an official European game. (source: FIBA).
April 4: Brazil’s Hortencia de Fatima Marcari, one of the greatest international players in history, and former LSU coach Sue Gunter, 708 victories, are named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Enshrinement September 8-10, 2005.
NCAA Division I Championship: April 5. Indianapolis, Indiana. In coaching Baylor University to an 84-62 victory over Michigan State, Kim Mulkey-Robertson became the first woman to win an NCAA Championship both as a coach and a player (her Louisiana Tech team won the first NCAA Women’s Title in 1982). In the process of reaching the Finals, Baylor overcame a 15 point deficit over Louisiana State University and Michigan State overcame a 16 pt deficit over Tennessee (tying the biggest comeback in NCAA women’s history: 2001 Notre Dame over Connecticut.)
July 9: Olympic Gold Medalist Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks becomes the first WNBA player to dunk in the All-Star Game (held at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut).
July 13: WNBA player and Olympic Gold Medalist Katie Smith of the Minnesota Lynx becomes the first women’s professional player to surpass 5,000 career points.
September 20: The Sacramento Monarchs defeat the Connecticut Sun 62-59 in Arco Arena to take their first WNBA title. 35-year-old Yolanda Griffith is named MVP of the series. This was the first season the WNBA used a five-game championship series. The Monarchs won in four.
October 18: It’s announced the Sacramento Monarchs will appear on a Wheaties Box to commemorate their championship win. It is the second time Wheaties honors the WNBA, and the first time that an entire championship team appears on the box.
October 26: Sheryl Swoopes announces publicly that she is a lesbian; at the same time she announces that she will be the new spokeswoman for gay cruiseline Olivia Cruises. She also reveals that her partner is her former Houston Comets coach Alisa Scott. The announcement takes many by surprise and is discussed in the media for weeks.
December 6: The WNBA announces three major rule changes: switch to a four-quarter format, shortening of the shot-clock to 24 seconds, and adjusting jump balls to begin each quarter.
December 9: Head Coach Leta Andrews of the Granbury Lady Pirates in Granbury, Texas moved past Jim Smiddy for the wins by a girls high school basketball coach with win number 1,218 against San Antonio Taft in the Granbury Booster Club Invitational. (source: Hood County News)
December 19: Carol Ross achieved a unique double with Mississippi’s appearance in The AP women’s basketball poll, which again had Tennessee, Duke and LSU in the top three spots. Ross, in her third season at Ole Miss, joins a handful of women to have played for and coached a ranked team at the same school. She was a four-year starter for coach Van Chancellor at Mississippi from 1977-81.
2006:
January 19: Coach Pat Summitt leads the Tennessee Volunteers to a 80-68 victory over Vanderbilt 80-68 Thursday night, giving Summitt her 900th win and the first coach, male or female, to reach that milestone. She picked up her 100th win at N.C. State on Jan. 13, 1979. No. 700 came at Wisconsin on Dec. 5, 1999, against coach Jane Albright and the Wisconsin Badgers, and her 800th on Jan. 14, 2003 against coach Doug Bruno and the DePaul Blue Demons.
February 1: 18-year-old Epiphanny Prince, a senior at Murry Bergtraum HS in Manhattan, sets a national girls’ scoring record with 113 points in the Lady Blazers’ 137-32 win over Brandeis in a Public School Athletic League game. She broke Cheryl Miller’s record of 105 points, set with Riverside Polytechnic HS in California in 1982. Neither Prince’s nor Miller’s (a 175-15 win over Notre Vista, Calif.) game was competitive. In Prince’s case, there was praise for the accomplishment and criticism of her coach for allowing her to score so many points against an overmatched opponent.
Feb 3: Lindsey Yamasaki played four minutes in a game for the ABA’s San Jose SkyRockets against the Beijing Aoshen Olympians. She did not attempt any shots. (Source: Asian-Athlete.Com)
Feb 9: Deb Remmerde of NAIA school Northwestern College (Des Moines, IA) ends her streak of 133 straight free throws. Her streak lasted longer than that of any player in any division of baskebtall – high school, college, and professional. The previous all-division record had been 127, set by boys high school player Daryl Moreau of New Orleans, Louisiana in 1979. The women’s NCAA record is 69, set by Jamie Visness of Concordia-Moorhead in 2003. The men’s NCAA record, held by Paul Cluxton (Northern Kentucky) is 94. The longest NBA free throw streak belongs to Michael Williams who hit 94 in a row in 1993. Remmerde is also Iowa’s all-time girls basketball scoring leader. (Source: Associated Press and Northwestern College Athletics Department, 2006.)
March 10: Judy Wright of Robert Wesleyan College scores 52 points in a National Christian College Athletic Association game, setting the record for points scored in an NCCAA tournament game.
March 11: Brittany Smart of Cedarville College scores 47 points to set the record for most points scored in an NAIA Division II tournament game.
March 13: Army head coach Maggie Dixon and brother Jamie Dixon, head men’s basketball coach at Pittsburgh, become the first brother-sister duo to take teams to the NCAA Tournament at the same time. They also made history at the beginning of the season becoming the first brother-sister pair to hold Division I basketball head coaching positions. Sadly, Maggie Dixon would die at the age of 28 less than one month later (April 6) from an undetected heart problem. (Source: ESPN.Com, AP)
March 18: Oklahoma freshman center Courtney Paris sets an NCAA record by becoming the first player to record 700+ points, 500+ rebounds, and 100+ blocks in a season. She and twin sister Ashley, also a Sooner, are the daughters of former NFL player Bubba Paris. (Source: AP)
March 19: Tennessee’s Candace Parker becomes the first woman to dunk in an NCAA Tournament game. Then she did it again, becoming the first woman at any level of basketball to dunk twice in the same game. The first was on a breakaway run while the second came in a half court set (another first). The historic dunks took place during a first round game against the Army in Norfolk, VA.
March 25: Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris sets the NCAA women’s basketball record for rebounds in a single season with 539. The old record of 533 was set by Wanda Ford of Drake in 1985.
March 28: Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris caps her record-breaking freshman season with yet another first after being named to the Associated Press All-American First Team. The first AP All-American team was chosen in the 1994-1995 season.
March 29: Duke’s Alison Bales has an NCAA Tournament record eight blocks in the regional final against Connecticut. She also became the NCAA Tournament’s all-time leader in blocked shots. She was named the Bridgeport Region’s MVP.
April 2: Duke’s 6’7″ center Alison Bales sets the NCAA record for blocked shots in the Tournament. She ends the postseason with 30 total swats. In the same game, LSU sets the Final Four record for fewest points scored in a half with just 15 in the first. Entering the evening, the ACC had an unprecedented three teams vying for a trip to the Final. With wins by Duke and Maryland (who beat the overall number one seed North Carolina), it became just the third time two teams from the same conference would square off for the Championship (the SEC is the only other conference to send two teams to the Final).
NCAA Division I Championship: April 4: Maryland beats Duke 78-75 in overtime to win their first national championship. It was only the second final to be determined in overtime play. The Terrapins overcame the second-largest deficit in championship history (13) to win the title. Freshman point guard Kristi Toliver hit a three at the end of regulation to tie the game. She then made two free throws to seal the win in overtime. Maryland forward Laura Harper was named Most Outstanding Player.
April 5: The WNBA held their draft in Boston, the site of the Final Four, where Seimone Augustus was selected first by the Minnesota Lynx. For the first time, two Canadians were selected in the first round of the same draft.
April 6: 46-year-old Anat Draigor of Israel breaks the Guinness World Record for points scored in a basketball game by a female professional by scoring 136 points in a game.
May 31: The Minnesota Lynx set the WNBA’s scoring record after laying in 114 points against the Los Angeles Sparks. The team also set a WNBA record three-pointers in a game. The Lynx had come into the game winless.
June 2: In a first for the WNBA, a college head coach was matched up against their former player. Dawn Staley point guard for the Houston Comets and Head Coach at Temple University took on rookie Candice Dupree of the Chicago Sky. The Comets would win the game 71-60.
June 7: Lauren Jackson of the Seattle Storm reaches the 3,000 career points mark faster than any other WNBA player.
June 25: Lisa Leslie of the LA Sparks, scoring a career-high 41 points, becomes the first WNBA player to surpass the 5,000 career points mark.
June 29: Katie Smith of the Detroit Shock becomes the first WNBA player to have 500 three-pointers. She also holds the record for three-point attempts.
July 15: Iowa: With six-on-six basketball still popular around the state, Iowa adds it to their state summer games schedule along with the traditional five-on-five and three-on-three.
August 8: Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury sets the WNBA record for most points in a season. She also carries the highest average points per game in a season than any other player in the history of the WNBA.
August 10: In a game for the ages, the Phoenix Mercury’s Diana Taurasi dropped in a record-setting 47 points in a three-overtime game against the Houston Comets before fouling out. The Comets dynamic duo of Tina Thompson – who scored a career-high 37 – and Sheryl Swoopes combined for 67 points. The final score of 111-110 set a WNBA record for total points scored in a game. The Mercury’s win allowed them to remain in contention for a playoff spot, while denying the Comets a chance to clinch their spot.
August 13: Cheryl Ford of the Detroit Shock sets the WNBA record for rebounds in a season.
November 12: Candace Parker of the Tennessee Lady Vols records her third college dunk in a game against Tennessee-Chattanooga.
November 24: Candace Parker of the Tennessee Lady Vols records an unprecedented fourth college dunk in a game against Stanford. The AP reported the dunk as follows: “(Parker) got a steal near midcourt and ran toward the other side at the wide open basket. She raised the ball in her right hand and dunked it with 10:55 remaining in the first half.”
December 20: Candace Parker of the Tennessee Lady Vols records her fourth college dunk in a game against West Virginia. She is then called for a technical after the play for holding out the name on her jersey.
2007:
Jan 6: Candace Parker of the Tennessee Lady Vols throws down her fifth college dunk in a win over the Connecticut Huskies, broadcast live on CBS.
Feb 18: Armintie Price of Ole Miss becomes the fifth player in women’s college basketball to have 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 300 steals and 300 assists in a career. Cheryl Miller, Tamika Catchings, Chamique Holdsclaw, and Sophia Young are the other four players.
Feb 22: Drexel and Northeastern battled it out in the longest game in NCAA women’s college basketball history. The Drexel Dragons needed five overtimes in 65 minutes of play to beat the Northeastern Huskies, 98-90.
March 13: Indiana Wesleyan beats College of the Ozarks to become the first undefeated team in NAIA Division II history. The Wildcats finish the season 38-0 and bring home the school’s first title.
November 22: Sylvia Fowles of LSU becomes the sixth collegiate woman to dunk during a game in a win over the Ragin’ Cajuns of Louisiana. With 9:29 remaining in the first half, the 6-foot-6 Fowles stole the ball from Bronson Rodgers and drove slightly more than half of the court before dunking from the right side.(source: Associated Press)
2008:
Jan 13: Indiana Wesleyan had their NAIA record-setting win streak of 56 games broken by Bethel College after a last second three gave the visiting team a win. Prior to the shot, Bethel had not scored a point in over five minutes. Brittany Cook, who made the shot, was a back-up post-player. (source: Marion Chronicle-Tribune)
Feb 3: Candace Parker of the Tennessee Lady Vols made her seventh collegiate career dunk in a game against Kentucky. Kentucky head coach Matthew Mitchell was a former Lady Vols graduate assistant coach. (source: Associated Press)
May 17: Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks made WNBA history by scoring 34 points in her professional debut. She further made an impression, with 12 rebounds and 8 assists – nearly a triple-double. She also had two steals and one blocked shot.
May 29: Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks made WNBA history by becoming the first player to record a five or better in points, blocks, assists, and steals. Her stat line for the evening against the Indiana Fever was 16 points, 16 rebounds, six blocks, five assists, and five steals.
June 22: Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks becomes the second woman to dunk in a WNBA game.
June 24: Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks becomes the first woman to dunk twice in the WNBA.
July 8: Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury reaches the 3,000 point mark faster than any other WNBA player in history (151 games to Lauren Jackson’s 162.) (source: Associated Press)
July 19: The New York Liberty and Indiana Fever meet in Arthur Ashe (Tennis) Stadium in Flushing, NY for the WNBA’s first outdoors game. The 23,000+ stadium hosted over 19,000 fans as visiting Fever beat the Liberty 71-55. The Fever’s Tamika Catchings also had the distinction of playing in the first women’s college basketball game held outdoors when her Tennessee Lady Vols played the Arizona State Sun Devils at Bank One Ballpark (home to the Arizona Diamondbacks) in Phoenix on December 27, 2000.
July 25: Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lieberman became the oldest player, at age 50 (breaking her previous record when she played for the Phoenix Mercury at age 39), to suit up for a WNBA team after signing a seven-day contract with the Detroit Shock – a team she previously coached. She played nine minutes in the game and had two assists. She missed her only shot attempt.
August 31: Katie Smith of the Detroit Shock becomes the third player in WNBA history to score 5,000 career points.
2008:
Jan 13: Indiana Wesleyan had their NAIA record-setting win streak of 56 games broken by Bethel College after a last second three gave the visiting team a win. Prior to the shot, Bethel had not scored a point in over five minutes. Brittany Cook, who made the shot, was a back-up post-player. (source: Marion Chronicle-Tribune)
Feb 3: Candace Parker of the Tennessee Lady Vols made her seventh collegiate career dunk in a game against Kentucky. Kentucky head coach Matthew Mitchell was a former Lady Vols graduate assistant coach. (source: Associated Press)
May 17: Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks made WNBA history by scoring 34 points in her professional debut. She further made an impression, with 12 rebounds and 8 assists – nearly a triple-double. She also had two steals and one blocked shot.
May 29: Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks made WNBA history by becoming the first player to record a five or better in points, blocks, assists, and steals. Her stat line for the evening against the Indiana Fever was 16 points, 16 rebounds, six blocks, five assists, and five steals.
June 22: Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks becomes the second woman to dunk in a WNBA game.
June 24: Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks becomes the first woman to dunk twice in the WNBA.
July 8: Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury reaches the 3,000 point mark faster than any other WNBA player in history (151 games to Lauren Jackson’s 162.) (source: Associated Press)
July 19: The New York Liberty and Indiana Fever meet in Arthur Ashe (Tennis) Stadium in Flushing, NY for the WNBA’s first outdoors game. The 23,000+ stadium hosted over 19,000 fans as visiting Fever beat the Liberty 71-55. The Fever’s Tamika Catchings also had the distinction of playing in the first women’s college basketball game held outdoors when her Tennessee Lady Vols played the Arizona State Sun Devils at Bank One Ballpark (home to the Arizona Diamondbacks) in Phoenix on December 27, 2000.
July 25: Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lieberman became the oldest player, at age 50 (breaking her previous record when she played for the Phoenix Mercury at age 39), to suit up for a WNBA team after signing a seven-day contract with the Detroit Shock – a team she previously coached. She played nine minutes in the game and had two assists. She missed her only shot attempt.
August 31: Katie Smith of the Detroit Shock becomes the third player in WNBA history to score 5,000 career points.
August 10: Lisa Leslie of the LA Sparks becomes the first WNBA player to reach 6,000 career points.
November 24: In a contest versus Jacksonville State, Brittney Griner of Baylor becomes the seventh woman to dunk in a college basketball game. She had attempted dunks in both of her previous collegiate games, and also dunked during a preseason game.
2011:
March 21: Courtney Vandersloot of Gonzaga becomes the first NCAA basketball player, male or female, to reach 2,000 points and 1,000 assists. This milestone was achieved in a second round NCAA tournament win against UCLA. In addition, her 17 assists in the game was two short of the record in an NCAA tournament game. (source: Associated Press, NCAA)