History of Women's Basketball Timeline

The first college to field a basketball team against an outside opponent was Vanderbilt University, which played against the local YMCA in Nashville, Tennessee, on February 7, 1893, helping launch college basketball in America.

Image source: College basketball

The second recorded instance of an organized college basketball game was Geneva College's game against the New Brighton YMCA on April 8, 1893, in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, which Geneva won 3–0.

Image source: Geneva College

The first recorded game between two college teams occurred on February 9, 1895, when Hamline University faced Minnesota A&M (which later became a part of the University of Minnesota).

The first intercollegiate match using the modern rule of five players per side is often credited as a game between the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa, in Iowa City, Iowa, on January 18, 1896. Some sources credit Yale versus Penn in 1897 as the first 'true' five-on-five match.

In April 1905, representatives of fifteen colleges separately took over control of the college game, creating the collegiate 'Basket Ball Rule Committee'. By 1900 the game of basketball had already spread to colleges across the country.

Image source: National Collegiate Athletic Association

The collegiate Basket Ball Rule Committee was absorbed into the predecessor of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 1909, bringing college basketball under broader institutional oversight.

In 1910 Howard University's first varsity basketball team began play, expanding opportunities for African American athletes at the collegiate level.

Image source: Howard Bison

In 1899, a committee was established at the Conference of Physical Training in Springfield to draw up general rules for women's basketball, formalizing the way the game was adapted for female players.

Image source: Women's basketball

The first women's Olympic basketball tournament was staged at the 1976 Summer Olympics, a landmark moment that brought women's basketball onto the world's biggest sporting stage.

The next two women's tournaments followed a six-team round-robin format, with the Soviets defending their title in 1980 amid the U.S.-led boycott and the U.S. winning in 1984 against South Korea amid the Soviet-led boycott. In 1988 the tournament expanded to eight teams with the Americans beating Yugoslavia, and in 1992 the Unified Team defeated China. In 1996 it settled into its current 12-team format with the U.S. victorious in Atlanta.

Image source: Basketball at the Summer Olympics

All-black basketball teams, known as Black Fives, were established in 1904, creating opportunities for African American players during an era when mainstream leagues were largely segregated.

Christopher Club of New York City were established as the first fully organized independent all-black basketball teams in 1906, advancing the Black Fives movement.

In 1907 the amateur, all-black Olympian Athletic League was formed in New York City consisting of the Smart Set Athletic Club and other teams, organizing competition among African American clubs.

In 1908 Smart Set Athletic Club of Brooklyn, a member of the Olympian Athletic League, was named the first Colored Basketball World's Champion after the first inter-city game between two black teams was played in 1907 against Washington, DC's Crescent Athletic Club.

In 1922 the Commonwealth Five, the first all-black professional team, was founded, marking a milestone in the professionalization of Black Fives-era basketball.

The New York Renaissance was founded in 1923, while the all-white Original Celtics became the strongest team of the era from 1922 until 1928, when they disbanded due to ownership problems. They are sometimes incorrectly thought of as forebears of today's Boston Celtics, who were not founded until 1946.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the Eastern Basket Ball League (founded 1909), Metropolitan Basketball League (founded 1921) and American Basketball League (founded 1925) were the most important professional leagues in the United States.

In 1939 the all-black New York Renaissance beat the all-white Oshkosh All-Stars in the World Pro Basketball Tournament, claiming the inaugural championship and demonstrating the strength of Black Fives-era teams.

From the late 1920s the African American Harlem Globetrotters were a successful touring team, winning the World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1940 before becoming famous worldwide for their exhibition play.

Image source: Harlem Globetrotters

The all-white National Basketball League began to racially integrate in 1942 with ten black players joining two teams, the Toledo Jim White Chevrolets and the Chicago Studebakers, breaking down barriers in professional basketball.

Image source: National Basketball League (United States)

The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was founded on June 6, 1946, in New York City. The league adopted the name National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1949 after merging with the rival National Basketball League, and grew into the most significant professional basketball league in the world.

The NBA integrated in the 1950–51 seasons, just two years after its founding, with three black players each achieving a separate milestone in that process.

Starting with the widening of the free-throw lane in 1951 and a further extension in 1964, the league sought to reduce dominant post-play centers. Then in 1954 the 24-second shot clock was introduced, and finally the NBA added the three-point line in the 1979–80 season.

Image source: Three-point field goal

The American Basketball Association (ABA) was founded as an alternative to the NBA in 1967 at a time when the NBA was experiencing a lot of popularity. It was folded into the NBA in the summer of 1976, with the Nets, Nuggets, Pacers and Spurs incorporated into the older league.

Image source: American Basketball Association