The New England Blizzard was a women's professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

franchise based in Hartford, Connecticut. The Blizzard was a charter member of the American Basketball League (ABL). Playing from 1996 through 1998, the team produced many memorable moments for New England basketball fans and followers of women's sports in general. The Blizzard played most of its home games in the Hartford Civic Center, but occasionally the team played at the smaller

Springfield Civic Center The MassMutual Center (formerly Springfield Civic Center) is a multi-purpose arena and convention center complex located in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, in the city's Metro Center. The arena opened in 1972 and the convention center opened ...

. Though they never won a title, the Blizzard consistently drew the most fans of any ABL franchise. This was partly because of the strong winning tradition established at the University of Connecticut, which built a large, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable base of local fan support for the women's game. Additionally, the Blizzard hired

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

legend

K. C. Jones K. C. Jones (May 25, 1932 – December 25, 2020) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is best known for his association with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA), with whom he won 11 of his 12 ...

as Head coach in 1997. Jones was easily the most widely recognized of the ABL coaches. Finally, the team featured several former Huskies.

Season 1

With their first draft pick, the Blizzard selected former UConn Husky center and 1996 Olympic team veteran

Rebecca Lobo Rebecca Rose Lobo-Rushin (born October 6, 1973) is an American television basketball analyst and former women's basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 to 2003. Lobo, at 6'4", played the center position ...

, who never signed with the Blizzard. Their second pick was guard Teresa Weatherspoon who played her college ball at

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

, and also never played for the Blizzard, choosing instead to play for the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was f ...

of the rival WNBA. But the Blizzard made up for that loss by picking up the former

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

standout

Carolyn Jones Carolyn Sue Jones (April 28, 1930 – August 3, 1983) was an American actress of television and film. Jones began her film career in the early 1950s, and by the end of the decade had achieved recognition with a nomination for an Academy ...

(later Jones-Young), who became the Blizzard's most consistent scorer.

Season 2

In the team's second season, the team drafted another Husky center, Kara Wolters, and two other ex-Huskies. The team's winning percentage improved, and by finishing second in the Eastern Conference, the Blizzard made the playoffs for the first and last time, where they lost in the first round in two straight games to the

San Jose Lasers The San Jose Lasers were a women's professional basketball team in San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Va ...

Season 3

In its third season, thirteen proved to be an unlucky number for the Blizzard: 13 games into their season, on December 22, 1998 the ABL folded. Connecticut was luckier than most ABL venues—it eventually got a WNBA team, the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut that competes in the Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was established as the Orlando Miracle in ...

, which got all the way to the WNBA finals before losing in 2004 and 2005.

Team record

All-Star players

(ABL 2nd Team 1996, ABL 1st Team 1997)

References

{{Authority control American Basketball League (1996–1998) teams Defunct basketball teams in Connecticut Basketball teams established in 1996 Sports clubs disestablished in 1998 1996 establishments in Connecticut 1998 disestablishments in Connecticut Sports teams in Hartford, Connecticut Basketball teams in Springfield, Massachusetts