History of Women’s Basketball in America

Adapted from A Timeline of Women’s Basketball History 1891 to Present, by Jone Johnson Lewis

1891

• James Naismith invented basketball at a Massachusetts YMCA school.

 1892

• First women’s basketball team organized by Senda Berenson at Smith College, adapting Naismith’s rules to emphasize cooperation, with three zones and six players on each team.

1893

• First women’s college basketball game played at Smith College; no men were admitted to the game (March 21).
• Women’s basketball began at Iowa State College, Carleton College, Mount Holyoke College, and Sophie Newcomb College (Tulane) in New Orleans; each year more schools added women’s basketball to their sports offerings for girls.

 1895

• Basketball was being played at many women’s colleges, including Vassar College, Bryn Mawr College, and Wellesley College.

1896

• Bloomers introduced as a playing costume at Sophie Newcomb College, New Orleans.
• Stanford and the University of California at Berkeley played the first women’s intercollegiate game; Stanford won, 2-1, and men were excluded, with women guarding the windows and doors to exclude men.
• First known women’s basketball game between two high schools was played in the Chicago area, with Chicago Austin High School against Oak Park High School.

1899

• Conference of Physical Training established a committee to form uniform rules for women’s basketball.
• Stanford banned women’s basketball from intercollegiate competition, as did the University of California.

1908

• AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) took the position that women or girls should not play basketball in public.

1914

• The American Olympic Committee declared its opposition to the participation of women in the Olympics competition.

1921

• Jeux Olympiques Féminines held in Monaco, an all-women’s sports competition for sports excluded from the Olympics; sports included basketball, track and field; Britain’s team won the basketball event.

1928

• Olympics included women’s basketball — as an exhibition event.

1931

• Golden Cyclones won AAU Championship, led by “Babe” Didrikson.

1930s

• Isadore Channels (of the Chicago Romas team) and Ora Mae Washington (of the Philadelphia Tribunes) were stars in two rival black women’s basketball barnstorming teams; both women were also American Tennis Association title winners.
• WDNAAF continued to pressure states to ban women’s basketball tournaments, with success in many states.

1940s

• During World War II, competition and recreational basketball was common; relocation centers for Japanese Americans, for instance, included regularly scheduled women’s basketball games.

1953

• International competition in women’s basketball was reorganized.

1955

• First Pan-American Games included women’s basketball; USA won the gold medal.

1969

• Women’s basketball was included in the Paralympics.

 1972

• Title IX enacted, requiring federally-funded schools to fund women’s sports equitably, including teams, scholarships, recruitment, and media coverage.
• AAU established national basketball tournaments for girls younger than college age.

1976

• Women’s basketball became an Olympic sport; the Soviet team won the gold, USA won the silver.

1984

• Lynette Woodard began playing with the Harlem Globetrotters, the first woman to play with that team.

1985

• Senda Berenson Abbott, L. Margaret Wade, and Bertha F. Teague were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the first women to be so honored.

1988

• Olympic women’s basketball event won by USA team.

1999

• Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame opened with 25 inductees.

2000

• Olympics held in Sydney, Australia; USA team won the gold medal; Teresa Edwards became the first basketball player to play on five consecutive Olympic teams and win five Olympic medals.

2002

• Ashley McElhiney became the first woman head coach for a men’s professional basketball team (ABA, Nashville Rhythm); she resigned in 2005 with a 21-10 record.

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