HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Women's basketball is the
team sport A team sport includes any sport where individuals are organized into opposing teams which compete to win or cooperate to entertain their audience. Team members act together towards a shared objective. This can be done in a number of ways s ...
of
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 ...
played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at
Smith College Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's coll ...
in
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
. It spread across 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., ...
, in large part via women's college competitions, and has since spread globally. As of 2020, basketball is one of the most popular and fastest growing sports in the world. There are multiple professional leagues and tournaments for professional women basketball players. The main
North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the ...
league is the WNBA. The FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup and Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament feature top national teams from continental championships. In the US, the
NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic ...
is also popular. The strongest European women's basketball clubs participate in the EuroLeague Women.


Early women's basketball

Women's basketball began in the fall of 1892 at
Smith College Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's coll ...
. Senda Berenson, recently hired as a young "physical culture" director at Smith, taught basketball to her students, hoping the activity would improve their physical health. While for men, basketball was designed as an indoor addition to existing team sports such as baseball and football, basketball became the first women's team sport, followed shortly after by hockey, rowing, and volleyball. Basketball's early adherents were affiliated with
YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
s and colleges throughout the United States, and the game quickly spread throughout the country. However, Berenson was taking risks simply in teaching the game to women. Nineteenth-century Victorian culture stressed the frailty of women and prioritized the status of women in the home, and Berenson expressed concern about the women suffering from "nervous fatigue" if games were too strenuous for them. In order to keep it acceptable for women to play at all within Victorian ideals of refinement and gentility, she taught modified rules. She increased participation to nine players per team, and the court was divided into three areas. Three players were assigned to each area (guard, center, and forward) and could not cross the line into another area. The ball was moved from section to section by passing or dribbling, and players were limited to three dribbles and could only hold the ball for three seconds. No snatching or batting the ball away from another player was allowed. A center jump was required after each score. Variations of Berenson's rules spread across the country via YMCAs and women's colleges, where educated middle-class women were following the prevailing trend in men's games of playing intercollegiate sports. Early basketball was played with peach baskets and soccer balls, similarly to the men's game, but women's uniforms again reflected the Victorian culture of the times and were designed to be practical, yet maintain the woman athlete's dignity and femininity. While upper-class women had been playing sports at country clubs since the mid-nineteenth century, they were able to participate in activities such as tennis and croquet in full-length skirts and corsets. However, similar attire was impractical for a more active sport like basketball, so the first trousers for women were worn. Initially loose and covered by a knee-length skirt, these early pants were replaced soon after by loose bloomers over stockings. Despite men being forbidden from watching these collegiate games, the attire still drew public ridicule. Originally exclusively intramural, the first intercollegiate women's basketball game was played between teams from
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...
and the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
, on April 4, 1896. Berenson herself opposed intercollegiate play for women, and prioritized the health and fitness benefits for a larger goal: she believed that women, newly entering the workforce and seeking paid jobs outside the home, were at a health-related disadvantage to men, which she saw as limiting women's opportunities and the possibility for equal wages. For much of the early 20th century, other coaches and administrators felt similarly, due in part to an increasing sentiment that men's college sports were becoming too commercialized and exploitive of the athletes. The women's branch of the National Amateur Athletic Foundation was founded in the 1920s, and the organization's goals included keeping women's sports non-competitive by discouraging travel and awards, discouraging publicity, and keeping women coaches and administrators in charge of women's sports. From 1895 until 1970, the term "women's basketball" was also used to refer to
netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...
, which evolved in parallel with modern women's
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 ...
.


Recent women's basketball

The popularity of women's basketball grew steadily around the world for decades. By the 1970s, the sport had attracted the notice of the
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...
, which added women's basketball as an official sport of the Olympic Games in 1976; the men had debuted in 1936. Throughout the 1970s, funding for (and interest in) women's basketball began to dramatically increase as schools receiving federal funding began to come into compliance with new laws mandating a lack of discrimination based on sex. The sport was also gaining attention at the collegiate level, under the auspices of the
Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Inte ...
(AIAW). America's first professional basketball league for women was founded in 1978 as the
Women's 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 ...
. The WBL competed for three seasons, launching in 1979 with 8 teams. The league expanded to 14 teams in 1980. Financial issues, poor marketing, and the cancelation of America's participation in the
1980 Summer Olympic Games 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 ...
severely impacted the league's viability, and it collapsed at the end of its third season in 1981. The next major development in women's basketball occurred in 1982 when the
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
(NCAA) began to sponsor the sport. . After several failed attempts at women's professional leagues in the U.S., the NBA founded the WNBA in 1996. The first nationally televised championship game occurred in 1979. Ivy Kirkpatrick of Stephen F. Austin State University coordinated the collaboration between NBC Sports and the AIAW. Only the title game was televised with Old Dominion University defeating Louisiana Tech University. Thereafter the Women's Final Four has been televised as an annual event. At the moment the WNBA consists of 12 Teams across 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., ...
.


Rules and equipment

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly with five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball through the defender's hoop. The rules for women's basketball are identical to the rules for men's basketball. The most noticeable differences are in the circumference of the women's basketball and the location of the women's three point line. The circumference of the women's basketball is less than the men's basketball. The smaller ball was introduced for NCAA play in the . The women's three-point line is closer to the basket than men's.


Basketball size

The regulation WNBA ball is a minimum in circumference, which is smaller than the NBA ball. This is a standard size 6 ball. As of 2008, this size is used for all senior-level women's competitions worldwide.


Court dimensions

The standard court size in U.S. college and WNBA play is , while the FIBA standard court is slightly smaller at . For most of its distance, the three-point line is from the middle of the basket under both FIBA and WNBA rules. Near the sidelines, the three-point line runs parallel to the.sideline, at a distance of exactly a yard in the WNBA and 0.9 m in FIBA play. Under NCAA rules, the three-point distance is for most of the width of the court, with a minimum distance of from the sidelines. The WNBA, FIBA, and NCAA all use a block/charge arc near each basket, with the WNBA and NCAA distance at from the center of the basket and FIBA using a marginally wider radius of exactly .


Shot clock

The WNBA
shot clock A shot clock is a countdown timer used in a variety of games and sports, proving a set amount of time that a team may possess the object of play before attempting to score a goal. Shot clocks are used in several sports including basketball, wa ...
was changed from 30 to 24 seconds, which has been in FIBA play since 2000, and has been used by the NBA since the shot clock was first introduced in
1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...
. Both men's and women's NCAA college basketball use a 30-second shot clock; the men's clock was introduced in 1985 at 45 seconds, lowered to 35 seconds in 1993, and 30 seconds in
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
.


Game clock

Most high school games are played with four 8-minute quarters, while NCAA, WNBA, and FIBA games are played in four 10 minute quarters. In 2015-2016 the NCAA changed the rules to 10 minute quarters from 20 minute halves. High lobs or tip-ins can be attempted with up to 0.3 seconds left in the period per the
Trent Tucker Rule The Trent Tucker Rule is a basketball rule that disallows any regular shot to be taken on the court if the ball is put into play with under 0.3 seconds left in game or shot clock. The rule was adopted in the 1990-91 NBA season and named after N ...
. Game Length and Quarters Within the WNBA there are four quarters that will be ten minutes in length. This has been a change that was made to help the speed of the game. It was also an attempt to help the game flow. There was also a rule added to not have a jump ball at the start of the second half as well.


Governance

Women's basketball is governed internationally by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Since 1953 FIBA has hosted a world championship tournament for women, currently known as the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup. The event, renamed from "FIBA World Championship for Women" after its 2014 edition, is currently held in even-numbered non-Summer Olympic years.


Levels of competition


University

Berenson's freshmen played the sophomore class in the first women's collegiate basketball game held on 22 March 1893. University of California and Miss Head's School, had played the first women's extramural game in 1892. Also in 1893,
Mount Holyoke Mount Holyoke, a traprock mountain, elevation , is the westernmost peak of the Holyoke Range and part of the 100-mile (160 km) Metacomet Ridge. The mountain is located in the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts, and is the ...
and Sophie Newcomb College, coached by Clara Gregory Baer (the inventor of Newcomb ball) women began playing basketball. By 1895, the game had spread to colleges across the country, including Wellesley, Vassar and Bryn Mawr. The first intercollegiate women's game was on 4 April 1896. Stanford women played California, 9-on-9, ending in a 2–1 Stanford victory. Clara Gregory Baer published the first book of rules for women's basketball in 1895 she first called the game 'Basquette', a name later dropped in her first revision of rules, the Newcomb College Basketball Rules, published in 1908. Despite participating in the first intercollegiate women's basketball game, Stanford's faculty athletic committee banned intercollegiate competition for women, first in team sports like basketball and later extending to all sports, and Cal (as well as many other prestigious colleges at the time) followed suit. In many cases, such bans were not lifted until the 1970s and the introduction of
Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
. While Senda Berenson's desire to limit competition was not realized forever, her larger goals were. College basketball and other women's college sports impacted the American cultural mindset around women and women's rights at the turn of the century, and colleges played a large role in enabling women to participate in athletics at all levels. Though in 1900 only 2.8% of American women were enrolled in college, the percentage of total college graduates who were women had increased to 36%, as colleges increased in number, size, and accessibility to larger portions of the population. The cultural significance of these college graduates exceeded their numbers, as college-educated women comprised the bulk of progressive professionals of their era. Women who played sports were able to craft a new image of femininity and athleticism, and the association between athletics and college was able to make sports acceptable and a central part of the image of progressive women in the early 1900s. Women's basketball continued to grow in universities across the country, expanding especially rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s as the Equal Rights Amendment raised awareness of unequal treatment in college athletics and the official position of the Division for Girls and Women in Sport (which later developed into the
Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...
) was changed to allow and encourage women's intercollegiate competition. In 1971 the five-player, full court game was adopted, followed by the Women's Sports Foundation, which was formed in 1974. Women's college basketball remains very popular throughout
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
, with the sport being sponsored by all of the major college athletic associations: the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
, the NAIA, the NJCAA, the
NCCAA The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) is an association of Christian universities, colleges, and Bible colleges in the United States and Canada whose mission is "the promotion and enhancement of intercollegiate athletic ...
, the CCAA and the CIS. Division I of the NCAA is considered the highest level of college competition, with the winner of the annual
NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic ...
game declared "national champion."


Professional leagues

There have been professional leagues established in numerous countries.


Olympic Games

Women's basketball has been contested in the
Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...
since 1976.


Additional International Competitions

In addition to the Olympics and Women's World Cup, women's basketball is also contested in the
Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is hel ...
and the Central American and Caribbean Games. Women's basketball made its first appearance at the
Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the ex ...
in 2006. Basketball (for both men and women) is one of the sports that the host nation of the
Island Games The Island Games (currently known as the NatWest International Island Games for sponsorship reasons) are biennial international multi-sports events organised by the International Island Games Association (IIGA). Competitor teams each represent d ...
may select for competition. Wheelchair basketball, one of the original eight events of the Paralympic Games, also has a women's wheelchair basketball championship program.


Around the world


Africa

AfroBasket Women The AfroBasket Women (formerly FIBA Africa Championship for Women) is the women's basketball continental championship of Africa, played biennially under the auspices of FIBA, the world governing body A governing body is a group of people that h ...
is the women's
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 ...
continental championship of
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, played biennially under the auspices of FIBA, the basketball
sport governing body A sports governing body is a sports organization that has a regulatory or sanctioning function. Sports governing bodies come in various forms and have a variety of regulatory functions. Examples of this can include disciplinary action for rule i ...
, and the African zone thereof. The tournament also serves to qualify teams for participation in the quadrennial FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup and the Olympic basketball tournament.


Asia

The Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) is a professional women's
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 ...
league established in 2002. The Women's Hong Kong Basketball Association is the highest women's professional club basketball competition in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
. The Indian National Basketball Championship for Women is a professional basketball tournament in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
for women The Women's Japan Basketball League is a premier women's basketball league in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
. The Lebanese Basketball League or FLB League is the top-tier professional basketball league in
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...
. The Women's Philippine Basketball League was a women's basketball league in the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
The
Women's Korean Basketball League The Women's Korean Basketball League (WKBL) ( Hangul: 한국여자프로농구) is the premier professional women's basketball league in South Korea. The league was established in 1998. Current clubs See also * Korean Basketball League T ...
(WKBL) is the premier women's basketball league in
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
The Women's Super Basketball League is the highest women's professional club basketball competition in
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...


Europe

The Russian Women's Basketball Premier League is the dominant league in Europe (largely because it is the main attraction of the WNBA players during the off-season). Other notable leagues are the Italian Serie A1, the Spanish Liga Femenina and the Turkish Super League.


England

Professional basketball exists in England. Women's English Basketball League is major professional competition. The league has grown steadily over recent years, and has now reached a level of thirty national league sides. The league is split into two levels. Division 1 is as close to professional as women's sport gets in the United Kingdom, with teams such as Rhondda Rebels and Sheffield Hatters bringing in players from the US and Europe. The Nottingham Wildcats make up the trio of clubs that helped establish the women's league and remain amongst the top three or four places. The gap between these top teams and the rest of the league has remained, but gradually as the women's game has developed, the gulf in results has been reduced, and each year there have been more competitive games. Promotion from Division 2 has always reinforced the gap between the two leagues, as the winner of the Division 2 promotion play-offs has found the step-up difficult. The Division 2 play-offs take the top four teams from the North and South of the Second Divisions, with the top playing the bottom of the other pool. This year (2006/7) saw several new teams join the second division, showing the continual growth of the women's game. These included the SevenOaks Suns, Enfield Phoenix, Taunton Tigers and Bristol Storm.


Australia

Professional women's basketball exists in Australia in the form of the Women's National Basketball League. The league was founded in 1981 as a way for the best women's basketball teams in the various Australian States to compete against each other on a regular basis. Today the WNBL is the premier women's basketball league in Australia.


United States

One of the major important events in the development of women's basketball in the United States was
Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
. Title IX was passed in 1972 to end sexual discrimination and stereotyping in admission to colleges and also in academic subjects (
McDonagh The surname McDonagh, also spelled MacDonagh is from the Irish language Mac Dhonnchadha, and is now one of the rarer surnames of Ireland. Mac Dhonnchadha, Mac Donnchadha, Mac Donnacha or Mac Donnchaidh is the original form of McDonagh These sur ...
, Pappano, 2008). Therefore, Congress' original goal was eliminating this discrimination in academic and educational processes. “Title IX is today generally viewed as having fixed the problem of gender inequality of sports, at least in educational settings” (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008, 79). It started out as simply involving education but then shifted in a debate to sports. Some groups such as the NCAA fought to keep things the way they were in reference to men's sports. The NCAA had built up the programs and earned financial support and popularity and did not want to throw that down the drain (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008). In 1974, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare issued Title IX regulations regarding intercollegiate athletics (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008). Title IX implies that if a school has a specific sport's team for boys then they must have a team in that same sport for girls. This will occur unless the men's sport happens to be a contact sport in which the rule will not necessarily apply (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008). In 1978, colleges and universities were forced to apply Title IX's rules and regulations. Athletic departments had to adhere to one of three requirements which were the proportionality rule, the gender equity rule, or historical progress rule (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008). Each of these requirements addressed Title IX and its regulations in a fair manner. To ensure that schools comply with Title IX, they face the consequence of losing federal funding for any violation (Sadker, 2001). The proportionality rule entails that a school provides opportunities proportional to its enrollment. As an example, if a school is 55% male and 45% female then the athletic participation should be 55:45 (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008). Not only does the proportionality rule apply to athletic participation, but it also addresses scholarships. “So if a college is spending $400,000 per year on athletic scholarships and half of the athletic participants are women then half of that amount, $200,000, should be funding athletic scholarships for women (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008, 299). The gender equity rule entails that a school must prove that it “meets the interest of the gender that is underrepresented” (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008, 107) which happens to be women. The historical progress rule entails that if a school is unable to provide proportional opportunities then they must put forth an effort to create more opportunities for the underrepresented gender (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008). Between 1971 and 2000, Title IX has proven to have had a huge impact on female collegiate sports. Sports participation among college women has risen from 372 percent over that time, from 32,000 to more than 150,000 women (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008, 108). Also now 33.5% of female students participate in sports (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008). The issue still remaining is that women's sports beyond college do not benefit from Title IX. As a whole, they make less income than men in professional sports which Title IX cannot do much about. However, due to Title IX some women have gotten recognition as a result of the debate. "Women athletes receive greater respect today but relatively skimpy media attention. Thank Title IX for…the growing visibility of women's college basketball that has USA Today producing a pullout section for the women’s NCAA March Madness tournament" (McDonagh, Pappano, 2008, 109). Professional women's basketball has been played in the United States. There have been several leagues, the most recent of which is the WNBA. The first attempt was the Women's Pro Basketball League. The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. The league is generally considered to be the first American professional women's basketball league to be founded. The second women's professional league to be created in the United States was the WBA. The league played three seasons from the summer of 1993 to the summer of 1995. The league is considered to be the first American professional women's basketball league to be successful as a summer league, like the WNBA. The league played three full seasons with plans to play as a 12-team league in 1997 but disbanded before 1997 season. The WBA played a 15-game schedule and games were broadcast on Liberty Sports of Dallas. When FOX Sports purchased Liberty Sports and the WBA, they disbanded the league. In 1996, two professional women's leagues were started in the United States. They were the American Basketball League and the WNBA. The American Basketball League was founded in 1996 during an increase in the interest in the sport following the
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
. The league played two full seasons (1996–97 and 1997–98) and started a third (1998–99) before it folded on 22 December 1998.


WNBA

The
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 ...
or WNBA is an organization governing a professional basketball league for women in the United States. The WNBA was formed in 1996 as the women's counterpart to the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...
, and league play began in 1997. The regular WNBA season is June to September (North American Spring and Summer). Most WNBA teams play at the same venue as their NBA counterparts. Most team names are also very similar to those of NBA teams in the same market, such as the
Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...
and
Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was founded pri ...
, the Minnesota Timberwolves and
Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded p ...
. Officially approved by the NBA Board of Governors on 24 April 1996, the creation of the WNBA was first announced at a press conference with
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 ...
,
Lisa Leslie Lisa Deshaun Leslie (born July 7, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. She is currently the head coach for Triplets in the BIG3 professional basketball league, as well as a studio analyst for Orlando Magic broadcasts on ...
and
Sheryl Swoopes Sheryl Denise Swoopes (born March 25, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player. She was the first player to be signed in the WNBA, is a three-time WNBA MVP, and was named one of the league's Top 15 Players of All Time at the 201 ...
in attendance. While not the first major women's professional basketball league in the United States (a distinction held by the defunct WBL), the WNBA is the only league to receive full backing of the NBA. On the heels of a much-publicized gold medal run by the USA women's national team at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, the WNBA began its first season on 21 June 1997 to much fanfare. The league began with eight teams. The first WNBA game featured 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 ...
facing the
Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was fou ...
in Los Angeles and was televised in the United States on the NBC television network. At the start of the 1997 season, the WNBA had television deals in place with NBC,
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 ...
and Lifetime Television Network. The league is divided into two conferences, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Each of the 12 teams plays a 34-game regular season schedule, beginning in June and ending in mid September. Although the WNBA is divided into conferences for scheduling purposes, it has used a single table for purposes of playoff qualifying since the 2016 season. The eight teams with the best overall records, regardless of conference affiliation, compete in the WNBA Playoffs during September with the
WNBA Finals The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the offici ...
in early October. An All-Star Game is typically held in the middle of July, while regular play stops temporarily for it. In
Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...
years, there is no all-star game, but a break of about five weeks in the middle of the WNBA season allows players to participate in the Olympics as members of their national teams. There have been a total of 18 teams in WNBA history. A total of five teams have folded: the
Charlotte Sting The Charlotte Sting were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the league's eight original teams. The team folded on January 3, 2007. The Sting was originally the sister organization of ...
, the
Cleveland Rockers The Cleveland Rockers were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Cleveland, that played from 1997 until 2003. The Rockers were one of the original eight franchises of the WNBA, which started in 1997. The owner was Gordon G ...
,
Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...
, the Miami Sol and the Portland Fire. Three other teams have moved, two of them twice and the other once. The
Utah Starzz Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
have moved twice, first after the 2002 season to
San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...
, where they were first known as the Silver Stars and later as the Stars, and then after the 2017 season to
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...
as the
Aces ACeS (PT Asia Cellular Satellite) was a regional satellite telecommunications company based in Jakarta, Indonesia. It offered GSM-like satellite telephony services to Asian market. The coverage area included Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philip ...
. At the same time the Starzz moved to San Antonio, the
Orlando Miracle The Orlando Miracle were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Orlando, Florida. It began play in the 1999 WNBA season. The Miracle relocated, in 2003, to Uncasville, Connecticut, where the team became the Connecticut ...
moved to
Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a village in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the ...
, where they now play as 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 ...
. 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 ...
moved after the 2009 season to
Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...
, where they played as the Tulsa Shock, and then moved to the
Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is a conurbated metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas encompassing 11 counties and anchor ...
after the 2015 season, now playing as the
Dallas Wings The Dallas Wings are an American basketball team based in Arlington, Texas. The Wings play in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team is owned by a group which is led by chairman Bill Cameron. Greg ...
. Since 1997 when the league was established there have been 11 teams that have won the WNBA title. The
Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...
were the first team to win the championship and they won it 4 years in a row, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000. The
Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was fou ...
have won 3 championships in their time in the league, 2001, 2002, 2016. The Tulsa Shock also won 3 championships when they were still in the league, 2003, 2006, 2008. The
Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...
have 4 titles to their name, 2004, 2010, 2018, 2020. The
Sacramento Monarchs The Sacramento Monarchs were a basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009. They played their home games at ARCO Arena. The Mon ...
were a WNBA team that won a championship in 2005. 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 ...
Won the WNBA championship 3 times in 2007, 2009, 2014. The
Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned ...
have one title to their name and that came in 2012. Both Seattle & the
Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded p ...
have the most championships of any of the teams currently active in the WNBA, with Lynx's 4 championships that came in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017. The Washington Mystics won their only title in 2019. In 2021 the
Chicago Sky The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 2 ...
won the title. The Las Vegas Aces have won the most recent title in 2022. The WNBA values diversity and taking a stand.  Leadership within the WNBA has continuously broken-down barriers for women, racial injustice, and LGBTQ community as well as other underrepresented groups.  Since the birth of the WNBA in 1996, league leadership has empowered their athletes to do what is right for the league and what is right for society.  The WNBA’s stand with diversity and inclusion across the sports world has enabled a generation of women, people of color, the LGBTQ community, and many more to believe in themselves and strive to achieve greatness. The WNBA has been holding LGBTQ community celebrations since 2001, the year the Los Angeles Sparks became the first team across any professional sport to acknowledge and celebrate Pride Month, sparking a revolution in the sporting community to stand by and support the LGBTQ community. The WNBA continuously invests considerable amounts of recourses into educating youth through programs such as the Jr. NBA’s Her Time To Play program, the WNBA Cares program, as well as partner with several other community partners to deliver WNBA Pride and Take a Seat, Take a Stand initiatives.


Women's basketball in film


Documentaries

* ''Off the Rez'' — A 2011 documentary for TLC about the journey of future WNBA player
Shoni Schimmel Shoni Schimmel (born May 4, 1992) is an American professional basketball player. She is a former All-American college player at the University of Louisville and was selected with the eighth overall pick in the first round of the 2014 draft by t ...
from the Oregon Indian reservation where she was raised to Portland in high school, and ultimately to the
University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one ...
. * ''She Got Game'' is based on the high school basketball success of Brigid Touey Humphrey * '' Training Rules'' — A 2009 documentary examining how women's collegiate sports, caught in a web of homophobic practices, collude in the destruction of the lives and dreams of many of its most talented athletes.


Theatrical releases

* '' Believe in Me'' * '' Double Teamed'' * '' Love & Basketball'' * ''
The Heart of the Game ''The Heart of the Game'' is a 2005 sports documentary film about the Roosevelt Roughriders girls basketball team directed by Ward Serrill. The movie is centered on their star player Darnellia Russell and the Roughriders new coach Bill Resler. T ...
'' * '' The Mighty Macs'' * '' The St. Tammany Miracle'' * '' Salaam Dunk'' * ''
The Winning Season ''The Winning Season'' is a 2009 American sports comedy film written and directed by James C. Strouse and starring Sam Rockwell. Premiering at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, the film had a limited theatrical release on September 3, 2010,Honeyc ...
'' * ''
Woman Basketball Player No. 5 ''Woman Basketball Player No. 5'' () is a 1957 Chinese film presented by Tianma Film Studio and directed by Xie Jin, starring Qin Yi, Liu Qiong, Cao Qiwei and Wang Qi. It is the first colored sports movie filmed after the formation of the Peopl ...
''


See also

* Timeline of women's basketball * Six-on-six basketball *
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 ...
*


References


Citations


Sources

* * * * * * * * * Senda Berenson papers, Smith College Archives, CA-MS-00037, Smith College Special Collections, Northampton, Massachusetts.


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Women's Basketball Ball games