Women's Basketball - History

History

See also: Timeline of women's basketball history

In 1891, James Naismith invented the sport of basket ball in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1892, Senda Berenson adapts the rules of the new sport for females.(Porter, p. 1) In 1896, The first known game of women's basketball between two colleges was played by California and Stanford on 4 April 1896.(Grundy, p. 19)(Miller, p. 29) In 1896, The first known women's interscholastic contest was played between Oak Park High and Austin High, both of Illinois, on 18 December 1896.

In 1919, Central AAU inaugurates a women's amateur basketball championship in Chicago. In 1926, The first national women's basketball championship is sponsored by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).(Ikard, p. 13)(Ikard, p. 215) In 1936, The famous exhibition team named the All American Red Heads was formed. In 1949, The World Famous female Texas Cowgirls team (1949–1977) was formed.(Miller, p. 31)(Grundy, p. 104–105) The Cowgirls played mens rules against male opponents. The team opened for N.B.A. teams and the Harlem Globetrotters. In 1953, The FIBA holds its first World Championship for Women.

In 1969, The Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (CIAW) awards the first collegiate national championship for women's basketball. In 1973, The AIAW begins administering national championships in women's collegiate athletics, including a basketball tournament, taking the place of the CIAW. In 1976, The Olympic Games awards medals in women's basketball for the first time. In 1982, The NCAA holds its first Women's Division I Basketball Championship. In 1984, West Virginia's Georgeann Wells registers the first dunk in women's collegiate basketball.

In 1990, Pat Summitt is the first female to win the John Bunn Award, the most prestigious award given by the Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1991, A jury awards money for a lawsuit filed under Title IX. Sanya Tyler, the women's basketball coach at Howard University, charges Howard University with discrimination. She claimed she was denied the job of athletic director and was being paid less than the men's basketball coach. In 1992, The WBA Women's Basketball Association kicks off its All-Star Tour on its way to three seasons of Women's Professional Basketball. In 1994, Nike introduces "Air Swoopes," the first basketball shoe named after a female basketball player, Sheryl Swoopes. In 1994, The NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament adds 16 teams to make a total of 64. In 1995, The ABL and in 1996 the WNBA are established . In 1997, FOX Sports purchased Liberty Sports and the WBA WBA. The All-Star game was televised, shorty after the league was disbanded. In 1999, The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame opens in Knoxville, Tennessee.

In 2000, Michelle Snow, a player for the University of Tennessee, became the third woman to dunk in a college game but the first broadcast on TV In 2002, McDonald's selects the best female high school basketball players in the country for the first female McDonald's All American High School Basketball Team. In 2002, Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks becomes the first to dunk in a regular season WNBA game. In 2008, The first outdoor regular season professional basketball game was held at Arthur Ashe Stadium between the WNBA's New York Liberty and Indiana Fever. In 2009, Pat Summitt gets her 1000th career win, the first coach in either men's or women's basketball to reach that mark. In 2009, the WNBA signed a contract with ESPN which agrees to pay rights fees to teams.