1979–80 WBL Season
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The 1979–80 WBL season was the 2nd season of the
Women's Professional Basketball League The Women's Professional Basketball League (abbreviated WBL) was a professional women's basketball league in the United States. The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. The league was the first professional w ...
. The season ended with the
New York Stars New York Stars could refer to: *New York Stars (WBL), a team that played two seasons in the Women's Professional Basketball League before disbanding in 1980 *New York Stars (WFL), a team in the World Football League that relocated in 1974 and becam ...
winning the WBL Championship, beating the Iowa Cornets 3 games to 1 in the WBL Finals. The league was divided into three divisions, with the
New Jersey Gems The New Jersey Gems was a franchise that played in the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL), one of only three teams in the league to survive through all three seasons, from 1978–79 to 1980–81. The team made the league playoffs once, lo ...
,
New York Stars New York Stars could refer to: *New York Stars (WBL), a team that played two seasons in the Women's Professional Basketball League before disbanding in 1980 *New York Stars (WFL), a team in the World Football League that relocated in 1974 and becam ...
St. Louis Streak,
Washington Metros The Washington Metros were a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. that was a member of the Eastern Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball ...
and the
Philadelphia Fox The Philadelphia Fox was a basketball team that played in the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL), the first women's pro league in the United States. Owned by Eric Kraus, it was added as an expansion team prior to the WBL's second season, ...
in the Eastern Division, the Iowa Cornets, Minnesota Fillies,
Chicago Hustle The Chicago Hustle was a team in the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) from 1978 to 1981. The team's colors were red and blue. History The Hustle played in all three WBL seasons and led the league in attendance each year. The WBL's ina ...
and the Milwaukee Does in the Midwest and the
Houston Angels The Houston Angels was a team that played for two seasons in the Women's Professional Basketball League. The team won the league championship in the inaugural season defeating the Iowa Cornets three games to two in the best-of-five tournament. The ...
, San Francisco Pioneers,
California Dreams ''California Dreams'' is an American teen sitcom that aired on NBC. It was part of the network's Saturday morning block, TNBC, premiering on September 12, 1992. Created by writers Brett Dewey and Ronald B. Solomon, and executive produced by Pet ...
and the
Dallas Diamonds The Dallas Diamonds was a women's professional American football team in the Women's Football Alliance (WFA). The Diamonds were made up of 46 players and a coaching staff of 10. The Diamonds won four national championships; the first three were ...
in the West. Struggling financially, Philadelphia and Washington both disbanded after 10 games.


Notable occurrences

*In June, former NBA player
Dean Meminger Dean Peter "The Dream" Meminger (May 13, 1948 – August 23, 2013) was an American basketball player and coach. Early life Meminger was born in Walterboro, South Carolina, and came to Harlem, New York, with his family as a seventh-grader. He starr ...
was hired as the head coach of the
New York Stars New York Stars could refer to: *New York Stars (WBL), a team that played two seasons in the Women's Professional Basketball League before disbanding in 1980 *New York Stars (WFL), a team in the World Football League that relocated in 1974 and becam ...
. * Pat Colasurdo Mayo was selected with the first pick in the 1979 WBL draft by the San Francisco Pioneers. *Former NBA coach
Larry Costello Lawrence Ronald Costello (July 2, 1931 – December 13, 2001) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He played for the Philadelphia Warriors, the Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers for the NBA and the Wilkes-Barre Barons. ...
was hired as the head coach of the Milwaukee Does. *After sitting out the 1978–79 season and participating in the
Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...
training camp,
Ann Meyers Ann Meyers Drysdale (born Ann Elizabeth Meyers; March 26, 1955) is an American former basketball player and sportscaster. She was a standout player in high school, college, the Olympic Games, international tournaments, and the professional level ...
signed with the
New Jersey Gems The New Jersey Gems was a franchise that played in the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL), one of only three teams in the league to survive through all three seasons, from 1978–79 to 1980–81. The team made the league playoffs once, lo ...
in November. *The season debut was on 15 November, 1979, where the
New York Stars New York Stars could refer to: *New York Stars (WBL), a team that played two seasons in the Women's Professional Basketball League before disbanding in 1980 *New York Stars (WFL), a team in the World Football League that relocated in 1974 and becam ...
defeated the New Orleans Pride, 120-112, before a record crowd of 8,452 in the
Louisiana Superdome The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...
. *On 26 November, Janie Fincher of the
Chicago Hustle The Chicago Hustle was a team in the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) from 1978 to 1981. The team's colors were red and blue. History The Hustle played in all three WBL seasons and led the league in attendance each year. The WBL's ina ...
was traded to the
Washington Metros The Washington Metros were a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. that was a member of the Eastern Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball ...
for two third-round draft picks and an undisclosed amount of cash. As Chicago's most popular player, the trade turned out to be a very unpopular move with Chicago's fans, with many turning in their season tickets afterwards. Due to the uproar, the Hustle tried to get the trade voided but could not do so before the Metros folded with Fincher going into a dispersal draft with the other Metros players. Despite having a chance to select her with the 4th pick, the team traded the pick to the Iowa Cornets for Denise Sharps, and Fincher was then selected with the fifth pick by the St. Louis Streak. The Hustle however, then traded
Adrian Mitchell Adrian Mitchell FRSL (24 October 1932 – 20 December 2008) was an English poet, novelist and playwright. A former journalist, he became a noted figure on the British Left. For almost half a century he was the foremost poet of the country's Cam ...
to the Streak for "Future considerations" which turned out to be Fincher, and she returned to Chicago before the end of the month. *On January 13, 1980,
Molly Bolin "Machine Gun" Molly Bolin (born Monna Lea Van Benthuysen; November 13, 1957) is a retired American basketball player who mainly played for the Women's Professional Basketball League. Although her accomplishments for the most part went unrecognized ...
, of the Iowa Cornets, broke her own WBL single game scoring record of 53 points when she scored 54 in a 109-93 win against the Minnesota Fillies. Two months later, on March 2, 1980, she broke the record again, scoring 55 points in another win against the Fillies despite dislocating her left shoulder early in the second quarter. That game, she also became the first WBL player to break the 1,000 point barrier in a single season.


Standings

Notes *z – division champions *x – clinched playoff spot


Playoffs


Statistics leaders


WBL awards

*Co-Most Valuable Players:
Ann Meyers Ann Meyers Drysdale (born Ann Elizabeth Meyers; March 26, 1955) is an American former basketball player and sportscaster. She was a standout player in high school, college, the Olympic Games, international tournaments, and the professional level ...
,
New Jersey Gems The New Jersey Gems was a franchise that played in the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL), one of only three teams in the league to survive through all three seasons, from 1978–79 to 1980–81. The team made the league playoffs once, lo ...
, and
Molly Bolin "Machine Gun" Molly Bolin (born Monna Lea Van Benthuysen; November 13, 1957) is a retired American basketball player who mainly played for the Women's Professional Basketball League. Although her accomplishments for the most part went unrecognized ...
, Iowa Cornets *Coach of the Year:
Dean Meminger Dean Peter "The Dream" Meminger (May 13, 1948 – August 23, 2013) was an American basketball player and coach. Early life Meminger was born in Walterboro, South Carolina, and came to Harlem, New York, with his family as a seventh-grader. He starr ...
,
New York Stars New York Stars could refer to: *New York Stars (WBL), a team that played two seasons in the Women's Professional Basketball League before disbanding in 1980 *New York Stars (WFL), a team in the World Football League that relocated in 1974 and becam ...


All-Pro team

*
Molly Bolin "Machine Gun" Molly Bolin (born Monna Lea Van Benthuysen; November 13, 1957) is a retired American basketball player who mainly played for the Women's Professional Basketball League. Although her accomplishments for the most part went unrecognized ...
(Iowa) *
Ann Meyers Ann Meyers Drysdale (born Ann Elizabeth Meyers; March 26, 1955) is an American former basketball player and sportscaster. She was a standout player in high school, college, the Olympic Games, international tournaments, and the professional level ...
(New Jersey) * Rita Easterling (Chicago) * Charlene McWhorter (Chicago) * Alfreda Abernathy (Dallas) *
Paula Mayo Paula or PAULA may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Paula, in video game ''EarthBound'' * Paula, in ''The Larry Sanders Show'' * Paula Campbell (''EastEnders''), in 2003 Film and television * ''Paula'' (1915 film), a si ...
(Houston) * Doris Draving (Iowa) * Heidi Nestor (Milwaukee) * Marie Kocurek (Minnesota) * Bertha Hardy (New Orleans) * Sharon Farrah (New York) * Janice homas (New York) *
Adrian Mitchell Adrian Mitchell FRSL (24 October 1932 – 20 December 2008) was an English poet, novelist and playwright. A former journalist, he became a noted figure on the British Left. For almost half a century he was the foremost poet of the country's Cam ...
(St. Louis) * Pat Mayo (San Francisco) *
Anita Ortega Anita Ortega is an Afro-Puerto Rican former collegiate basketball player at UCLA. She was an All-American. The team went on to defeat the University of Maryland, College Park in 1978 to take the Division I collegiate title (National Champions). In ...
(San Francisco) Source


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1979-80 WBL season Women's Professional Basketball League seasons