1960’s:
Barnstorming teams reach a peak with teams like the Texas Cow Girls, Arkansas Lassies, Chocolate Co-Eds, and Harlem Chicks.
1960:
Under the direction of coach Martha Baptista Wheaton College returns to intercollegiate play. Between 1964-68, they compiled a record of 41-3. They were one of the best teams in the country those four seasons, and in the 1967-68 season finished with an undefeated recorded in 11 games.
1961:
Rules: After successful field goal or free throw, other team gets ball at the end line. Three-bounce dribble allowed. Each team is permitted two players to roam the entire court and "snatching" the ball once again is permitted.
The Iowa Girls Basketball Hall of Fame is created by the IGHSAU. Doris Ward of the 1920 Correctionville team is the first inductee.
1962-1969:
Nashville Business College, coached by John Head wins first of eight consecutive AAU National Championships. With no age limit, rovers Nera White and Joan Crawford (additional link) continue to dominate.
1964:
Rules: Player can hold ball indefinitely if not closely guarded; five seconds if closely guarded (instead of three seconds). Part of old vertical guarding rule returns as "holding both arms extended horizontally" is prohibited. Two free throws awarded last two minutes of each half "to make it unprofitable to deliberately foul." All these changes are made by a joint committee of the Division of Girls’ and Women’s Sports (now the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport - NAGWS) and the AAU.
Fran Koening and Carol Walter are the first women to officiate at an AAU national tournament.
1966:
Rules: Continuous, unlimited dribble becomes official.
Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics (CIA) created by physical education instructors to oversee national tournaments for women in basketball and other sports.
1967:
CIA forms the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) and is not associated with NCAA, which has no wish to sponsor women’s tournaments.
April 14-23: The US National Team managed just one win at the World Championships in Prague, Czechoslavakia. The team featured five AAU All-Americans and five players from the Raytown Piperettes, however no players from the AAU Champion Nashville Business College were on the squad. Among the players who made the trip was Lori Lindahl, a multi-sport athlete (1959-61) from Long Beach, CA who played basketball, volleyball, softball, tennis and badminton. She also played AAU ball on two California teams Anamill and National General West back when AUU focused on "industrial" teams made up of players high school age and beyond. "She was an unbelievable scorer," said teammate Annie Meyers, "and had a soft touch, that when left open for a split second, she would tickle the twine. She also was one of the most poised players I saw play, hardly getting frustrated." When Meyers played for the AAU team Anna's Bananas, Lori served as assistant coach to Ann's sister Patty as the team won three consecutive AAU championships (1977-79).
1968:
Rules: Coaching from the sidelines is no longer a foul.
November 28: Penny Ann Early becomes the first woman to "play" in a men's professional league. The nation's first licensed female horse jockey was signed by the American Basketball Association's Kentucky Colonels though she had no prior basketball experience. She checked into the game, inbounded the ball, and then was replaced by a substitute.
A US Women’s team plays in the Paralympics.
1969:
Denise Long is the first woman drafted by the NBA - the San Francisco Warriors 13th pick. She didn’t play for them, but did work out with the team. In 1982 she was named to the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.
First year of the NWIT (National Women's Invitational Tournament): 1st Wayland Baptist; 2nd Ouachita Baptist; 3rd Midwestern Oklahoma State; 4th John F. Kennedy.
Conference on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (CIAW) First National Invitational Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament held. Held at West Chester State College in Pennsylvania under auspices of AIAW and organized by Carol Eckman, it's the first time women competed in a national tournament without AAU teams. The single elimination, invitational tournament featured 16 teams from around the country. West Chester State defeated Western Carolina in a championship game played by six player rules. (1st West Chester, 2nd Western Carolina, 3rd Iowa Wesleyan, 4th Iowa.)
1970's:
For women who wished to play after college, AAU continues to be an alternative. Shelia Moorman, for instance, played for Raytown Piperettes and the U.S. National Basketball Team.
California: Grace Nakai founds the San Francisco Enchantees Girls' Basketball Club (photo)
1970:
Northeastern University coach Jeanne Rowlands organizes and hosts the National Invitational Tournament, the last played by six-player rules. Cal State-Fullerton (coached by Billie Jean Moore) defeated West Chester State. 1st Cal State-Fullerton, 2nd West Chester, 3rd Ursinus, 4th Western Carolina.
1971:
Rules: Five-player, full-court game and 30-second clock become official under AAU/DGWS rules (not Iowa or Oklahoma).
CIAW NIT held at Western Carolina University. 1st Mississippi College for Women, 2nd West Chester State, 3rd North Carolina, 4th Southern Connecticut State.
Marian E. Washington and Colleen Bowser, of the Raytown Piperettes (MO) are the first two black women to play for the United States in international competition. Washington later went on to be the first African-American to coach a United States national team in international play when she coached the US Select Team to a 7 -1 record in 1983.
President Richard Nixon signs Title IX of the Educational Amendment of 1972, stating that "no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal assistance." More women playing sports in college meant less going from high school to playing for traveling teams, signaling the end of those teams.
1972:
Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) hold the first women’s national collegiate basketball championship at Illinois Sate University. Teams were chosen according to a regional qualifying structure that broke the country into 16 regions. Under coach Cathy Rush, Immaculata defeats West Chester 52-48. 3rd Mississippi-Women, 4th Cal State-Fullerton. AIAW governs women’s sports until it was incorporated into the NCAA in 1982.
Recognizing they'll soon be shut out from governing basketball college and above, the AAU national convention passes a motion to start a national basketball tournament for girls 15-and-under and 18-and-under.
1973:
After more than 20 years coaching at the high school level, Margaret Wade returns to coach at Delta State, where she’d been a star in the 1920’s.
Amateur Basketball Association of the United States (ABAUSA) formed, replacing the AAU as national governing body.
AIAW first offers college scholarships to female athletes.
First AAU National Tournament held in 1973 in New Orleans, LA. 16 teams participate.
AIAW makes national tournament a 4-day affair. Immaculata (defeated Southern Connecticut State College) defeats Queens College (defeats Indiana University) 59-52 to win the Championship. The tournament earns a profit of $4,631.
Michigan sponsors the first state high school girl's basketball championship. Though some reports suggest girl's basketball predated boy's basketball (1898), the Depression, social and financial pressures forced cutbacks - girl's athletics being one victim.
1974:
ABAUSA officially recognized by both FIBA and the US Olympic Committee.
Colleges start offering scholarships to female athletes.
November 29: Cindi Meserve of Pratt Institute is the first woman to play in a college men’s basketball game.
AIAW: Immaculata defeats Mississippi College. 3rd Southern Connecticut State, 4th William Penn.
Kentucky: State Senator Nicholas Baker’s Bill 73, known as the "Basketball Bill", is passed. The bill stated that all schools that have a varsity basketball team for boys must have a girls' basketball team.
1975:
Rules: 20-minute halves and the bonus free throw. The latter awards no free throws on the first six common fouls of each half, then a free throw is awarded plus a bonus if it is made. Free throws never are taken for offensive fouls and always taken if against a player in the act of shooting-or in case of a flagrant foul. Half time is increased to 15 minutes.
January 27: First national television exposure. A game between University of Maryland and Imaculata is televised on a major television network. The 1975 AIAW championship was nationally televised on a delayed basis.
February 22, New York: First women’s inter-college basketball game played at Madison Square Garden. 11,969 watch Immaculata defeat Queens College.
March: Eastman Kodak Company sponsors the inaugural Women's Basketball Coaches Clinic in conjunction with the national women's basketball collegiate championships, marking the first women's basketball corporate sponsorship. Kodak also sponsors the first-ever Kodak All-America Team.
The women's division of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is formed. The first national championship (invitational) is held the same year.
Under coach Wade, Delta State goes undefeated, beating Immaculata 90-81 to win the first of 3 consecutive AIAW national championships. 3rd Cal State-Fullerton 4th, Southern Connecticut State.
US National Wheelchair Basketball Association holds its first women’s national tournament.
Women’s Professional Basketball Association. Talks of creating a league including the traveling teams Arkansas Lassies and Indianapolis Pink Panthers, as well as teams in Atlanta, Greenville, Nashville, Winston-Salem. Nothing emerges. (Karen Logan a member of the Panthers. Logan played in the first professional women's game as a player in the WBL).
Kentucky: After a 43-year lapse, the state sponsored basketball championship for girls returns. Butler High School of Louisville wins. In the year after the "Basketball Bill" is passed, the number of girls teams in the state increases from 111 to 300.
1976:
November: Mel Greenberg, a journalist from the Philadelphia Inquirer, compiles and releases the first women's basketball Top 20 national poll.
December 3: Carol Turney of St. Mary's in Halifax, Nova Scotia sets the Canadian collegiate record after scoring 50 points in one game.
All-American Red Head Karen Logan defeats Jerry West in a game of H-O-R-S-E on CBS national television.
AIAW: Delta State defeats Immaculata. 3rd Wayland Baptist, 4th William Penn.
Women's basketball makes its Olympic debut in Montreal under coaches Billie Jean Moore and Sue Gunter. Lusia Harris of Delta State scores the first basket, and team wins the Silver in the round-robin competition. Nancy Lieberman remains the youngest women's basketball player in Olympic history to win a medal (she was 18).
1977:
March 6: Carol Blazejowski of Montclair State sets the record for most points scored in a college game (male or female) with 52.
All states but New York have restored sanctioned state tournaments. Before 1973, only 8 states had high school basketball tournaments for girls.
AIAW: University of Minnesota hosts. Delta State University defeats Louisiana State University 68-55. 3rd Tennessee, 4th Immaculata.
Lusia Harris, 6’3" center from Delta State University, is awarded the first Broderick Cup as the most outstanding athlete in the AIAW.
Lusia Harris is drafted by the NBA's New Orleans Jazz, seventh round - she does not sign a contract.
Coached by Queens College’s Lucille Kyvallos, US participates in the World University Games for first time.
1978:
March: First "Final Four" for women held at UCLA’s Pauley Pavillion, televised by NBC (the game was taped-delayed one day on NBC's Sportsworld). UCLA defeats Maryland before a record crowd of 9,351. 3rd Montclair State 4th Wayland Baptist. Billie Moore becomes first coach to lead 2 teams to national championships: Cal State Fullerton in 1970 and UCLA in 1978.
AIAW expands college tournament to 32 teams that will play each other at four satellite sites, the four regional winners advance to the first "Final Four."
Carol Blazejowski of Montclair State named as inaugural recipient of Wade Trophy. Established by NAGWS, the trophy honors the Nation's finest female collegiate player.
Women's Basketball League (WBL) is founded by Bill Byrne. It features eight teams: Chicago Hustle, Dayton Rockettes, Houston Angels, Iowa Cornets, Milwaukee Does, Minnesota Fillies, New Jersey Gems, and New York Stars.) They play a 34-game schedule the first year, and 6000 fans in Houston watch the Angels defeat the Cornets for first WBL Championship. 111-104.
July 18: The Women's Basketball League (WBL) holds its first draft. Among the players selected during the three-hour draft were former Miss America and sports broadcaster Phyllis George, 7'4" Ulina Semonova of the Soviet Union, Ann Meyers, Carol Blazejowski, and Luisa Harris. (Source: NY Times.)
1979:
September 5: Ann Meyers is signed as a free agent by the NBA's Indiana Pacers. She is cut after a three-day tryout.
Ann Meyers is first woman to carry American flag at the Opening Ceremonies of the Pan Am Games.
The WBL expands to 14 teams, adding the Dallas Diamonds, San Francisco Pioneers, California Dream, New Orleans Pride, Philadelphia Fox, and Washington DC Metros. New York wins the second WBL championship.
AIAW: Old Dominion defeats Louisiana Tech (national television). 3rd Tennessee, 4th UCLA. ODU head coach Marianne Stanley becomes the first woman to win a championship as both a player and a coach.
First Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament for women played in Logan Hall at Tuskeegee University (the men's tournament was played at the same location in 1934).