Women's Basketball History

Women’s basketball was started in the year 1892 and today, it has come a long way. The surprising factor with women’s basketball is that women started playing the game within a year the game was invented. Women’s basketball is rich in tradition and is fascinating at all levels, and this, is a fact!

It was Senda Berenson Abbott, a physical education teacher from Lithuania, who introduced the exciting game of basketball to women. By the late 1960’s, dramatic changes occurred in this game. Unlimited dribbling became legal in the year 1966 and by the year 1969, the first 5-player full-court game by women was played. This five-player form was made official women’s basketball game in the year 1971. Same rules, styles and regulations as that of men’s basketball are observed in women’s basketball. However, the size of the ball that women use is slightly smaller at certain levels, like college.

Women’s basketball witnessed a tremendous growth by late 1960’s. Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in the year 1971 that offered women’s national college basketball tournament. By the year 1978, the championship of AIAW was televised and a professional league by the name Women’s Basketball League (WBL) was started. This league featured 8 teams and lasted for 3 years. AIAW separated in the year 1982 and in the same year, the first national championship for women was held by NCAA. By the year 1985, the Basketball Hall of Fame began introducing players, female coaches, and contributors.

Women’s National Basketball Association, the first league endorsed by NBA, was introduced in the year 1996. The first season of WNBA began in the year 1997 and they won gold medal in the Summer Olympics of 1996. In the beginning, WNBA had only 8 teams and slowly the count increased. By the year 2005, many amendments in the rule of WNBA were made to make it more like the NBA, its male counterpart.