WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TIMELINE
1896: The first known organized game of women's basketball between two schools was played by Stanford and Berkeley.
1926: The first national women's basketball championship is sponsored by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).
1936: The famous exhibition team named the All American Red Heads was formed.
1953: The FIBA holds its first World Championship for Women.
1969: The Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (CIAW) awards the first collegiate national championship for women's basketball.
1969: West Chester (Pennsylvania) def. Western Carolina 65-39 (CIAW invitational tournament, six player format).
1969: The Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), formerly the National Women's Invitation Tournament is founded.
1969: Wayland Baptist defeats Ouauchita Baptist 54-34 in the first WNIT.
1972: The Mighty Macs of Immaculata (Pennsylvania) def. West Chester 52-50 in the National Collegiate Championships.
1973: The AIAW begins administering national championships in women's collegiate athletics, including basketball, taking the place of the CIAW.
1975: May 27, 1975. President Ford signs the Title IX athletics regulations.
1975: Phillips University (Enid, Oklahoma) Wins First division II AIAW Women's Basketball Championship.
1976: The Olympic Games awards medals in women's basketball for the first time.
1982: The NCAA holds its first Women's Division I Basketball Championship.
1984: West Virginia's Georgeann Wells registers the first dunk in women's collegiate basketball.
1985: Kansas Jayhawk Lynette Woodard made history in 1985 when she became first female member of the Harlem Globetrotters.
1990: Pat Summitt is the first female to win the John Bunn Award, the most prestigious award given by the Basketball Hall of Fame.
1991: A jury awards money for a lawsuit filed under Title IX. Sanya Tyler, the women's basketball coach at Howard University, charges Howard University with discrimination. She claimed she was denied the job of athletic director and was being paid less than the men's basketball coach.
1992: The WBA kicks off it's All-Star Tour on its way to three seasons of Women's Professional Basketball. First Named the WWBA (World Women's Basketball Association)
1993: The WBA (Women's Basketball Association) Plays its first game in Kansas City, Missouri.
1994: Nike introduces "Air Swoopes," the first basketball shoe named after a female basketball player, Sheryl Swoopes.
1994: The NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament adds 16 teams to make a total of 64.
1995: The WBA televises All-Star Game on Fox-Liberty Sports Network in conngunction with Prime Cards http://www.wnbacards.com/WBL.htm
1996: The ABL and the WNBA are established .
1997: Fox Sports purchases the WBA and sells rights to player cards http://www.angelfire.com/az/hangar018/wba95.html
1999: The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame opens in Knoxville, Tennessee.
2000: Michelle Snow, a player for the University of Tennessee, became the third woman to dunk in a college game but the first broadcast on television.
2001: Southwest Jr. Pro Women's Basketball League is formed. Rauzulusstreet.com Basketball Research
2002: McDonald's selects the best female high school basketball players in the country for the first female McDonald's All American High School Basketball Team.
2002: Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks becomes the first to dunk in a regular season WNBA game.
2006: Pat Summitt gets her 900th career win, the first time this has happened for any coach.
2008: The first outdoor professional basketball game was held at Arthur Ashe Stadium between the WNBA's New York Liberty and Indiana Fever.
2009: The WNBA signs a contract with ESPN which agrees to pay rights fees to teams. This is the first rights fees contract ever to be signed with a women's league.
2009: Pat Summitt goes for her 1,000th career win.
2009: Phoenix Mercury 2009 Champions.
2011: Season 15 in the WNBA!!!!!!
2012: Women's Basketball Olympics in London: Olympic Basketball Arena and the O2 Arena, London.
2013: WBA 20 year Anniversary. (Kansas Crusaders Championship 20 year).
2013: Season 17 in the WNBA!
2016: WNBA 20
2021: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_W25 The W25 are the Women's National Basketball Association's Top 25 Players of All Time, chosen in 2021 on the occasion of the 25th season of the WNBA.
2022: 26th Season
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