The History of Women’s Basketball and its Rules

There’s symmetry between women’s basketball and the fight for social representation for women since the sport was created in 1891. To understand more behind the game you play, watch on television or in-person, it’s important to look at the boundaries that were set upon women in the sport.

All it took was a YMCA physical education teacher back in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891, to create the game we know now as basketball. Originally known as “basket ball” (yes, two words), James Naismith was set with a task to create a game that would be played between the seasons in which football and baseball are played. The game he created featured 13 rules.

Less than a year later, Sarah Berenson, also known as “the founding mother of women’s basketball,” introduced Naismith’s game to her physical education students at Smith University. Berenson took the rules of Naismith’s game and bent them to shape societal norms of the time. So, the game was built to reduce physicality, keep body exposure to a minimum, and eliminate “nervous fatigue” if the game became too intense. Here are some of the first differences between men’s and women’s basketball in the early days:

Women’s basketball divided the court into three sections. Each player was then assigned to a specific section to reduce movement
You couldn’t steal or “snatch” the ball in women’s basketball
Women were allowed just three dribbles and three seconds of possession with the basketball before having to either shoot it or pass to a teammate

That same year, the first women’s basketball game between two institutions took place when the University of California-Berkeley played Miss Head’s School. Four years later, in 1896, the first intercollegiate women’s basketball game was recorded, as Stanford played California, with Stanford winning, 2-1. Since then, the rules and regulations which women’s basketball follows have drastically changed. Attire went from having to be covered almost completely to now being able to play in looser, more comfortable clothing. Here are some of the key changes the game’s seen since its inception in 1892.

1910-11: Dribbling is eliminated. It’s then returned in 1913-14, but players must bounce knee-high. If the court is small enough, you could cut it in half, and the center on a five-player team could play the entire court but was prohibited from shooting.
1917-18: Centers can now shoot if she plays full court. Shooting fouls now call for two free throws.
1918-19: The bottom of the basket is removed, bounce passes become legal, and teams can use substitutes. The player that’s being substituted out isn’t allowed to come back into the game.
1927-28: Players need to wear a number on their back.
1932-33: All field goals count as two points. Players are also allowed to guard each other on any plane, as well as start the game with either a center throw-in or a jump-up.
1938-39: The game is now split into two halves with six players on each side.
1947-48: Players must now wear numbers on both front and back.
1949-50: Dribbling is limited to a two-bounce dribble without a height designation.
1959-60: A missed free throw continues play, which helped in “bringing back the art of rebounding.”
1962-63: “Snatching” the ball is allowed again, as well as two players allowed to rove the entire court.
1966-67: Unlimited dribbling is made an official rule after being used experimentally for two years.
1968-69: Coaches are now allowed on the sidelines.
1969-70: A huge change comes, as women’s basketball experiments with allowing a full-court game between five-player teams with a 30-second shot clock. The ruling is made official two years later.
1984-85: The ball circumference is reduced an inch, as well as the weight, becoming two ounces lighter.
1987-88: The three-pointer is introduced, set at 19 feet and nine inches away from the center of the basket. In 2011, the distance is set further to 20 feet and nine inches.

The Emergence of Collegiate Women’s Basketball

Though it might not count as a “league,” we can thank Carol Eckman for essentially introducing college playoff and tournament competition for women in 1969. Eckman’s formation of the first National Invitational Women’s Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament helped in the journey of women’s basketball being included as an NCAA sport 13 years later. The tournament (also known as the CIAW invitational tournament)—which featured 16 teams—ran yearly from 1969-1971.

In 1971, the then-Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (CIAW) transitioned and developed into the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). The AIAW, heavily governed by women, became official in 1972, helping to expand the reach for women’s college basketball programs to compete in both competitions between each other, as well as for national championships. More than 280 schools were members of the AIAW when it officially came into play in 1972, which also was the same year that Title IX was signed into law.

Now set in the NCAA, women’s college basketball saw a boost in terms of financial backing.

The Emergence of Professional Women’s Basketball Leagues

Though the game had been introduced to women for 86 years, it wasn’t until 1978 that the first professional women’s basketball league would form. Founded by Bill Byrne, the Women’s Basketball League (WBL) featured 17 teams throughout its three years in existence until it folded. Other leagues to fold were:

Ladies Professional Basketball Association. Founded with six teams in 1980 but lasted less than a month.
Women’s American Basketball Association formed with six teams in 1984, folded shortly after.
The National Women’s Basketball Association was founded in 1986, yet folded the same season.
The Women’s Basketball Association was a summer league that lasted from 1993-1995.

Then, in 1996, the landscape for women’s professional basketball finally found its footing. With the help of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Board of Governors, a plan was approved for the concept of a women’s league and created what’s still known as the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The WNBA would begin play in June of 1997, and would outlast another up-and-coming women’s league, the American Basketball League (1996-1999).

Since the Houston Comets won the league’s first four championships, two other teams have gone on to win four titles as well. The WNBA continues to expand, with cities around the country entering their names to the league to host a team in the future.