The Women's Professional Basketball League (abbreviated WBL) was a professional
women's basketball
Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...
league in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. The league was the first professional women's basketball league in the United States.
Formation and 1978–79 season
The WPBL was founded by sports entrepreneur
Bill Byrne. The league began with a player draft held in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
's
Essex House in July 1978, with eight teams participating. While few of the teams had firm commitments on playing locations (or team names, for that matter), the league planned to play a 34-game season with teams in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
,
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...
,
Iowa
Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
,
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...
,
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and
Washington, D.C. Houston drafted
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 ...
from
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
, while New Jersey's top choice
Carol Blazejowski
Carol Ann Blazejowski (born September 29, 1956) is an American retired professional women's basketball player and the former president and General Manager of the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). ...
of
Montclair State College
Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public university in New ...
said that she wanted to retain her amateur standing to be eligible to play in the
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...
.
Lusia Harris, a collegiate star at
Delta State University
Delta State University (DSU) is a public university in Cleveland, Mississippi, a city in the Mississippi Delta.
History
The school was established in 1924 by the State of Mississippi, using the facilities of the former Bolivar County Agricult ...
, was selected by the Houston team, but was reluctant to commit to playing after hearing the $3,000 to $5,000 salaries estimated by the Minnesota franchise. With its last pick in the draft, the Cornets selected
Uljana Semjonova, a 6-foot-11-inch player for the
Soviet Union women's national basketball team who would be inducted as an inaugural member of the
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's ba ...
in the class of 1999, but would never play a game in the WBL. The
New Jersey Gems selected
Carol Blazejowski
Carol Ann Blazejowski (born September 29, 1956) is an American retired professional women's basketball player and the former president and General Manager of the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). ...
from
Montclair State College
Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public university in New ...
, but she announced while on tour in
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
with the
U.S. national women's team through her coach
Maureen Wendelken that she had no intention of playing professionally and that her goal was to retain her amateur standing to be able to play for the U.S. at the
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...
.
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 ...
, who grew up in
Moravia, Iowa, became the first player signed by any team in the WBL when she was signed by the
Iowa Cornets
The Iowa Cornets was a team that played for two seasons in the Women's Professional Basketball League. George Nissen purchased the first franchise in the fledgling league on March 21, 1978 for $50,000. Nissen, who had been a star gymnast at the Un ...
.
The league played its first game on December 9, 1978, between the
Chicago Hustle and the
Milwaukee Does at the
Milwaukee Arena, with the league's inaugural game attracting four minutes of coverage in the previous night's ''
CBS Evening News'' with
Walter Cronkite. Milwaukee mayor
Henry Maier issued a proclamation likening this first game to the first professional football game, played in
Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and the first pro baseball game, played in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
.
[Harvin, Al]
"Female Pros Make History; Playing Game Alone"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', December 10, 1978. Accessed July 26, 2010. The Does had a crowd of 7,824 at the game, which saw the hometown team lose to Chicago 92–87, with
Debra Waddy Rossow scoring 30 points to lead the Hustle.
[
The league was divided into two divisions, with Chicago, Milwaukee, Iowa and ]Minnesota Fillies
The Minnesota Fillies were an American women's professional basketball team based in Minnesota that competed in the Women's Professional Basketball League from 1978 to 1981. The Fillies were one of three teams to play in all three of the league's ...
playing in the Western Division, while the Dayton Rockettes, 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 ...
, New Jersey Gems and New York Stars were in the East. The eight initial teams paid $50,000 for their franchise, while the four teams to be added for the 1979–80 season were expected to pay $100,000, and $250,000 per team for each of four more teams in the following season.
The league was able to arrange an all-star game in 1979, which was played at the Felt Forum
The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden is a theater located in New York City's Madison Square Garden. It seats between 2,000 and 5,600, and is used for concerts, shows, sports, meetings, and other events. It is located beneath the main Madis ...
in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
's Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...
in front of 2,731 fans. The game was hastily arranged and inserted into the league's schedule, using a court borrowed from the United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...
at West Point, and forcing some players to have to make hectic travel arrangements to get to their next regular season game. The East beat the Midwest by a score of 112–99. Althea Gwyn of the New York Stars led the East with 19 points and 16 rebounds, while Chicago Hustle players Debra Waddy Rossow with 26 points and Rita Easterling with 19 points led the Midwest. Easterling, who also grabbed 18 rebounds, was named the game's most valuable player.
Behind 36 points by Paula Mayo, the Houston Angels defeated the Iowa Cornets on May 2, 1979, to take the league's first championship, 111–104 in the final game of a best three-out-of-five competition.
1979–80 season
The league made it through its first season with all eight teams in operation, though the Dayton Rockettes had been taken over by the league in February 1979 and was to be relocated to either Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
or Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
. New franchises had been awarded to Dallas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
, , San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
and St. Louis, while applications were received for potential franchises from Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
, Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Los Angeles, Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
and Washington, D.C.
The Eastern Division included the New Jersey Gems, New Orleans Pride, New York Stars, Philadelphia Fox, St. Louis Streak and Washington Metros. The Midwest Division included the Chicago Hustle, Iowa Cornets, Milwaukee Does and Minnesota Fillies. The Western Division included the California Dreams, Dallas Diamonds, Houston Angels and San Francisco Pioneers.
On April 9, 1980, despite Iowa's league-leading scorer 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 ...
's 36 points, the New York Stars held on to win game four of the finals 125–114, behind 27 points by Pearl Moore and 22 by Janice Thomas. Stars coach Dean Meminger called the game the "culmination of a year of hard work". In what proved to be a harbinger of things to come, however, the Stars asked to go on a two-year hiatus not long after winning the title.[
]
1980–81 season and demise
In a game scheduled in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
on March 21, 1981, players of the Minnesota Fillies
The Minnesota Fillies were an American women's professional basketball team based in Minnesota that competed in the Women's Professional Basketball League from 1978 to 1981. The Fillies were one of three teams to play in all three of the league's ...
, one of only three teams to play in all three seasons that the league was in existence, walked off the court before the starting lineups were announced in a game against the Chicago Hustle in a protest over unpaid salaries. Referees and team coach Terry Kunze tried to cajole the players back onto the court to play their game, but were unsuccessful. The team, which had been averaging 1,000 to 1,500 in attendance per game, were suspended from the WPBL by commissioner Sherwin Fischer, who called the walkout as "very detrimental to the league".
On February 7, 1981, Nebraska Wranglers
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 ...
player Connie Kunzmann
Connie Renea Kunzmann (July 3, 1956 – February 7, 1981) was a professional basketball player who was a member of the Iowa Cornets and the Nebraska Wranglers in the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) from 1978 to 1981. Kunzmann made the ...
was reported missing and was later pronounced dead. Police arrested Lance Tibke, who later pleaded guilty to her second degree murder.
The Nebraska Wranglers won the league's 1980–81 title, defeating the Dallas Diamonds three games to two. In the fifth and final game, Rosie Walker led the victors with 39 points, while the Wranglers' defense held Nancy Lieberman of Dallas to 12 points, less than half of her season average.
Bill Byrne had founded the league hoping that the 1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...
would showcase the game's stars and bring media and public attention to women's basketball
Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...
, but the United States-led boycott of the Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
games only added to the league's misfortunes.
By the fall of 1981, the league was showing what ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' described as "feeble flickers of life." That November, commissioner Dave Almstead announced the league had disbanded, having generated $14 million in losses in its three years on the court. Almstead, who had succeeded Fischer as league commissioner in May 1981, announced the league's shutdown after trying unsuccessfully to contact the surviving eight teams' investors and team owners. Fischer, owner of the Chicago Hustle, insisted that he would field a team that would go barnstorming if the league went out of existence, and thought that teams would be fielded for a fourth season by Chicago, Nebraska and New Orleans. Some of the players were able to play professionally again in the 1984 Women's American Basketball Association
The Women's American Basketball Association (WABA) is a league that began in 2017 with seven teams. It now has over 20 teams across the country. Season 4 was cancelled in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. There have been previous women's ...
.[Rogers, Thomas]
"SPORTS WORLD SPECIALS; Dead or Alive?"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', November 23, 1981. Accessed July 26, 2010.
Teams
* 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 ...
(1979–80) / Nebraska Wranglers
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 ...
(1980–81)
* Chicago Hustle (1978–81)
* Dallas Diamonds (1979–81)
* Dayton Rockettes (1978–79) / Washington Metros
The Washington Metros were a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. that was a member of the Eastern Basketball Association. Following the 1977–78 season, the team became the Baltimore Metros
The Baltimore Metros were an Americ ...
(1979–80)
* 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 ...
(1978–80)
* Iowa Cornets
The Iowa Cornets was a team that played for two seasons in the Women's Professional Basketball League. George Nissen purchased the first franchise in the fledgling league on March 21, 1978 for $50,000. Nissen, who had been a star gymnast at the Un ...
(1978–80)
* Milwaukee Does (1978–80)
* Minnesota Fillies
The Minnesota Fillies were an American women's professional basketball team based in Minnesota that competed in the Women's Professional Basketball League from 1978 to 1981. The Fillies were one of three teams to play in all three of the league's ...
(1978–81)
* New England Gulls (1980–81)
* New Jersey Gems (1978–81)
* New Orleans Pride (1979–81)
* New York Stars (1978–80)
* Philadelphia Fox (1979–80)
* St. Louis Streak (1979–81)
* San Francisco Pioneers (1979–81)
* Tampa Bay Sun (1980–81 planned expansion team, never played)
League champions
*1978–79 Houston Angels
*1979–80 New York Stars
*1980–81 Nebraska Wranglers
Selected notable players
*Carol Blazejowski
Carol Ann Blazejowski (born September 29, 1956) is an American retired professional women's basketball player and the former president and General Manager of the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). ...
, now the General Manager 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 ...
*"Machine Gun" 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 ...
, Co-MVP for the 1979–80 season
* Brenda Chapman, the WBL scoring leader in the 1978–79 season
* Denise "Neicy" Craig, former Dayton Rockettes player, Hall of Fame inductee of Shaw University
Shaw University is a private Baptist historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in ...
, Hall of Fame inductee of CIAA, Hall of Fame inductee of Princeton High School Athletics, Princeton, New Jersey
* Rita Easterling, MVP for the 1978–79 season
*Donna Geils, now Donna Orender
Donna Geils Orender (born February 14, 1957) is a sports executive and a former collegiate and professional basketball player. She was formerly president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and senior vice president of the PGA ...
, former President of the WNBA
* Althea Gwyn
* Cardie Hicks, one of the first women known to have dunked in a professional game, doing so while playing professionally in the Netherlands in 1978.
* Marie Kocurek
* Nancy Lieberman, former Phoenix Mercury
The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season ...
player, first-ever coach of the Detroit Shock
The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions.
Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. Th ...
, now a basketball analyst on ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
*Muffet McGraw
Ann "Muffet" McGraw (born December 5, 1955) is an American former college basketball coach, who served as the head women's basketball coach at Notre Dame from 1987 to 2020, compiling a 848–252 (.771) record over 33 seasons. She led her team to ...
, former Head Coach at University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...
*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 ...
, top pick in the WBL draft in 1978 for the Houston Angels, WBL Co-MVP for the 1979–1980 season playing for the New Jersey Gems, now the General Manager for the Phoenix Mercury
The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season ...
* Anita Ortega, played with the San Francisco Pioneers and a brief stint with the Minnesota Fillies. She was one of the women that decided not to play in a Fillies game due to contractual violations by the owners. She was a 1980 WBL All-Star and described as the "Dr.J" of her time because of her crafty athletic moves. She later became the highest ranking Afro-Puerto Rican in the Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-lar ...
.
*Mary Jo Peppler
Mary Joan "Mary Jo" Peppler (born October 17, 1944) is a retired American volleyball player and coach. Peppler was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1990. She also played professional basketball with the New Jersey Gems of the Women's ...
, renowned volleyball player and coach and ABC ''Superstars
A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity.
Superstar or superstars may also refer to:
People
* Warhol superstars, the associates of Andy Warhol
* WWE Superstar, a branding term referring to a WWE wrestler
* Superstar Billy Graham (born 1943) ...
'' champion who played for the New Jersey Gems in 1978-79
* Rhonda Rompola, Head Coach at Southern Methodist University
, mottoeng = " The truth will make you free"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = SACS
, academic_affiliations =
, religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church
, president = R. Gerald Turner
, p ...
from 1991 to 2016
* Susan Summons, 3rd round draft pick by the New Jersey Gems and later traded to the New England Gulls, now Head Coach at Miami Dade College
* Rosie Walker, MVP for the 1980–81 season
* Kaye Young, later known as Kaye Young Cowher, the late wife of American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
coach Bill Cowher
Standings
1978–79 season
Eastern Division
Midwest Division
Semifinals
*Houston 2–0 New York
*Iowa 2–1 Chicago
Finals
*Houston 3–1 Iowa
1979–80 season
Eastern Division
Midwest Division
Western Division
*Philadelphia and Washington disbanded after 10 games.
Quarterfinals
*San Francisco 2–1 Houston
*Minnesota 2–1 New Orleans
Semifinals
*Iowa 2–1 Minnesota
*New York 2–0 San Francisco
Finals
*New York 3–2 Iowa
**New York 89–85 Iowa
**New York 112–98 Iowa
**Iowa 110–101 New York
**Iowa 89–79 New York
**New York 111–104 Iowa
1980–81 season
Coastal Division
Central Division
*New England disbanded after 12 games.
Division playoffs
Dallas defeated New Jersey, 2 games to 1.
Game 1 (April 3) in West Orange, NJ: New Jersey 91, Dallas 86. [Schwartz, Drew]
"Passing Her Game, Thomas Ignores Pain"
'' Daily Record'', April 5, 1981. Accessed January 21, 2021, via Newspapers.com
Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
In November 2018, ...
. "The New Jersey Gems guard was writhing in pain, and it looked as though she would be finished in Friday night's game. But this was the playoffs, a time when adrenaline becomes a painkiller. 'It was just a sprain,' said Thomas after the Gems defeated the Dallas Diamonds 91-86 in the first game of the playoffs."
Game 2 (April 4) in Dallas: Dallas 92, New Jersey 85.
Game 3 (April 6) in Dallas: Dallas 107, New Jersey 88.
Nebraska defeated Chicago, 2 games to 0.
Game 1 (April 4) at Chicago: Nebraska 97, Chicago 75.
Game 2 (April 5) at Omaha: Nebraska 81, Chicago 61.
Finals
Nebraska defeated Dallas, 3 games to 2.
Game 1 (April 14) in Omaha: Nebraska 89, Dallas 72.
Game 2 (April 15) in Omaha: Dallas 106, Nebraska 93.
Game 3 (April 17) in Dallas: Dallas 96, Nebraska 88.
Game 4 (April 18) in Dallas: Nebraska 94, Dallas 93.
Game 5 (April 20) in Dallas: Nebraska 99, Dallas 90.
See also
* American Basketball League
* National Women's Basketball League
The National Women's Basketball League, often abbreviated to the NWBL, was an organization governing professional basketball leagues for women in the United States. The league was founded in 1997 and began play in the Fall of that year. The league ...
* Women's American Basketball Association
The Women's American Basketball Association (WABA) is a league that began in 2017 with seven teams. It now has over 20 teams across the country. Season 4 was cancelled in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. There have been previous women's ...
* Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Nati ...
* Timeline of women's basketball history
References
External links
WBL history with standings
Women's Professional basketball research
{{Major women's sport leagues in North America
1978 establishments in New York City