1990:
Pat Summitt is the first woman to receive the John Bunn Award, the most prestigious honor given by the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Bernadette Mattox becomes first woman to coach a Division I men�s team, serving as assistant coach at the University of Kentucky under Rick Pitino.
NCAA Division I Championship: Knoxville: Women�s Final Four outdraws the men�s. Stanford (def. Virginia) defeats Auburn (def. Louisiana Tech) 88-81.
1991:
Rules: Contact technical fouls count toward a player�s five fouls for disqualification and toward the bonus. The shot clock will be reset when the ball hits the rim instead of when the ball leaves the shooter�s hand.
February 22: Jackie Givens of Fort Valley State sets an NCAA Division II record with her 67-point game.
July 15: Sandra Oriz-Del Valle becomes first woman to officiate a men�s professional basketball game - the New Haven Skyhawks vs. the Philadelphia Spirit in the United States Basketball League.
Erin Tharp of Clark County College sets the collegiate scoring record (all divisions) after scoring 79 points in one game.
The Liberty Basketball Association (LBA) begins, using 9'2" high baskets, a 25" circumference basketball and skin-tight unitards. The league survives one game as the Detroit Dazzlers defeated the LBA All-Stars at the Palace of Auburn Hills (MI) in front of 10,753 spectators on ESPN.
NCAA Division I Championship: Tennessee (def. Stanford) defeats Virginia (def. Connecticut) 70-67 (OT). This is the first championship game to be decided in overtime.
For the first time, a jury awards monetary damages for a lawsuit filed under Title IX. Sanya Tyler, women's basketball coach at Howard University for 11 years, charges the University with discrimination, claiming she was denied the job of athletic director and was being paid less than the men's basketball coach, despite her team's superior record. As a result, other women coaches begin insisting on equal pay.
1992:
NCAA Division I Semifinal: Game between SMS and Western Kentucky. 63 fouls, 57 turnovers, and running 2.5 hours of grinding with no OT, it has the honor of being the first national semifinal game to be televised live.
NCAA Division I Championship: Stanford (def. Virginia) defeats Western Kentucky (def. Southwest Missouri State) 78-62.
Women's World Basketball Association (WWBA) is launched in the Midwest with six teams. It folds shortly thereafter.
US wins bronze medal at Barcelona Olympics. Their lowest-placed finish in history.
Nera White of the Nashville Business College team is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
1993:
Rules: The game clock will be stopped after successful field goals in the last minute of the game and the last minute of any overtime period.
February 10: Bridgete Williams of Los Angeles Harbor College scores 72 points in a game against Long Beach City College.
Women�s Basketball Association (WBA) founded and survives until 1995.
Marianne Stanley sues University of Southern California who fired her after she turned down a $89,000 a year contract because the men�s coach made $130,000.
NCAA Division I Championship: Atlanta: Texas Tech (def. Vanderbilt) defeats Ohio State (def. University of Iowa) 84-82, Sheryl Swoopes scores an NCAA tournament championship record 47 points. The highest-rated women's final since networks had began broadcasting it, it led to an almost instant sellout of 1994 Final Four months before the season started.
Iowa finally gives up the six-player game. Oklahoma is last state to switch (1995).
Sheryl Swoopes signs contract with Nike for a personalized sneaker. Like Michael Jordan�s Air Jordan, her Air Swoopes will sell for $115 a pair.
Nancy Lieberman first woman inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.
Jim Smiddy, head coach at Bradley Central High School Bearettes in Cleveland, TN retires as the winningest coach in high school girls basketball history with 1,217 wins. His 44-year career record was 1217-206. He guided his teams to five state championships, won the national championship in 1975 & 1976 when his teams went undefeated, and his teams compiled a 90-game winning-streak, surpassing the 88-game streak turned in by Wooden's 1972-74 UCLA teams. Smiddy's teams won 24 district (13 straight), 17 regional, and 14 sub-state titles. He was part of the inaugural Women's Basketball Hall of Fame induction class in 1999.
1994:
December 4: Charlotte Smith of the University of North Carolina becomes the second woman to dunk in a collegiate game during a win against North Carolina A&T.
NCAA Division I women's basketball field expands from 48 to 64 teams. All 32 eligible conferences are awarded automatic qualification. The Division I Women's Basketball Committee seed 16 teams nationally and the remaining teams are placed in each regional bracket. The Division III field was expanded to 40.
NCAA Division I Championship: Richmond: North Carolina (def. Purdue) defeats Louisiana Tech (def. Alabama) on Charlotte Smith�s buzzer beating 3-pointer, 60-59.
1995:
September: American Basketball League (ABL) founded by Anne Cribbs, Steve Hams and Gary Cavalli. Teams: Atlanta Glory, Columbus Quest, Long Beach Sting Rays, New England Blizzard, Portland Power Richmond-Philadelphia Rage, San Jose Lasers, Seattle Reign, Nashville Noise, Colorado Xplosion. The will play a 40 game season.
C. Vivian Stringer becomes head coach of Rutgers University (NJ), and is the first female coach to earn a base pay of $150,000.
The first United States Senior Women's National Team compiles an undefeated record of 52-0 against NCAA and international opponents.
Kerri-Ann McTiernan becomes the first woman head coach of a men�s college team, taking over at Brooklyn�s Kingsborough Community College.
University of Texas� Jody Conradt is first women�s basketball coach to win 600 games.
NCAA Division I Championship: Minneapolis: University of Connecticut (def. Stanford) defeats University of Tennessee (def. Georgia) 70-64. Under coach Geno Auriemma, UConn becomes the second team to go undefeated and capture a national championship (35-0). A record 5.4 million TV viewers (19,000 in attendance) watch.
The Associated Press selects its first All-American team for women's college basketball.
1996:
April 24: The WNBA established by the NBA. Teams: Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets, Los Angeles Sparks, New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs, Utah Starzz. They will play a 28 game schedule.
October 18: the New England Blizzard and the Richmond Rage play the ABL�s inaugural game in Hartford, CT.
December 8: Debbie Black of the ABL's Colorado Xplosion achieves one of basketball's rarest feats a qaudruple-double, with 10 points, 12 assists, 10 steals and 14 rebounds.
AAU adds 10-and-under divisions. 17-and-under division is added in 1997.
US Women�s Olympic "Dream Team" captures the gold medal in Atlanta.
NCAA Division I Championship: University of Tennessee (def. University of Connecticut) defeats Georgia (def. Stanford) 83-65.
1997:
Rules: Beginning with the 10th foul in a half, two free throws are awarded for each common foul.
June 21: The New York Liberty and the Los Angeles Sparks play the WNBA�s inaugural game at the Los Angeles Western Forum.
Jody Conradt of the University of Texas becomes the eighth coach, and first woman, to win 700 games.
Dee Kantner and Violet Palmer become first female officials in the NBA.
Columbus Quest defeat Richmond Rage for first ABL championship.
NCAA Division I Championship: University of Tennessee (def. Notre Dame) defeats Old Dominion (def. Stanford) 68-59. ESPN - who�d won the contract by promising to show a number of games during the season and some early round tournament games - broadcasts the game.
Houston Comets defeat the New York Liberty 65-51 for the first WNBA Championship.
USA women�s Junior National Team wins gold at the FIBA world championship, the USA team�s first medal in the event.
1998:
January: 6'5" Sylvia Crawley of the ABL's Colorado Xplosion wins the league's first Slam Dunk Contest by performing a blind-folded dunk during the All-Star Game in Florida. The New England Blizzard's Kara Wolters (6'7") and the Seattle Reign's Linda Godby (6'6") also participate, coming in second and third respectively.
March: Columbus Quest defeats the Long Beach Sting Ray for their second ABL Championship.
December: The ABL suspends operations and files for bankruptcy.
NCAA Division I Championship: Kansas City, MO. Tennessee (def. Arkansas) defeated Louisiana Tech (def, North Carolina State) 93-75 for the NCAA Division I Championship. University of Tennessee�s Pat Summitt becomes the third coach to go undefeated (39-0) and win a Championship. Summitt is also the first women�s basketball to win three championships in a row, as well as the first coach to win six national championships (�87, �89, �91, �96, �97, and �98.)
Houston Comets defeat the Phoenix Mercury for their second WNBA Championship.
WNBA adds the Washington Mystics and Detroit Shock.
1999:
January 27: Fans organize an All-Star game, called "HoopSalute" for the players from the defunct ABL at DeAnza College in Cupertino, CA.
June 3: Grand opening and induction of the Inaugural Class of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, TN. Inductees: Senda Berenson Abbott, Lidia Alexevia, Carol Blazejowski, Joanne Bracker, Jody Conradt, Joan Crawford, Denise Curry, Anne Donovan, Carol Eckman, Betty Jo Graber, John Head, Lusia Harris Stewart, Nancy Lieberman-Cline, Darlene May, Ann Meyers-Drysdale, Cheryl Miller, Billie Moore, Shin-ja Park, Harley Redin, Uljana Semjonova, Jim Smiddy, Pat Summitt, Bertha Teague, Margaret Wade, and Nera White.
WNBA adds Orlando Miracle and Minnesota Lynx.
NCAA Division I Championship: San Jose. Purdue (def. Louisiana Tech) defeats Duke (def. Georgia) 62-45.
Houston Comets defeat the New York Liberty for their third straight WNBA Championship.