Women's Professional Basketball League

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Women's Professional Basketball League (abbreviated WBL) was a professional women's basketball league in the United States. The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. The league is generally considered to be the first American professional women's basketball league to be founded.^[1]

[edit] Teams

• California Dreams (1979-80) /Nebraska Wranglers (1980-81)
• Chicago Hustle (1978-81)
• Dallas Diamonds (1979-81)
• Dayton Rockettes (1978-79) /Washington Metros (1979-80)
• Houston Angels (1978-80)
• Iowa Cornets (1978-80)
• Milwaukee Does (1978-80)
• Minnesota Fillies (1978-81)
• New England Gulls (1980-81)
• New Jersey Gems (1978-81)
• New Orleans Pride (1979-81)
• New York Stars (1978-80)
• Philadelphia Fox (1979-80)
• St. Louis Streak (1979-81)
• San Francisco Pioneers (1979-81)

[edit] Champions of WBL

• 1978-79 Houston Angels
• 1979-80 New York Stars
• 1980-81 Nebraska Wranglers

[edit] Selected notable players

• Ann Meyers, top pick in the WBL draft in 1978, WBL Co-MVP for the 1979-1980 season playing for the New Jersey Gems, now the General Manager for the Phoenix Mercury
• Carol Blazejowski, now the General Manager for the New York Liberty
• "Machine Gun" Molly Bolin, Co-MVP for the 1979-80 season
• Brenda Chapman, the WBL scoring leader in the 1978-79 season
• Rita Easterling, MVP for the 1978-79 season
• Donna Geils, now Donna Orender, President of the WNBA
• Althea Gwyn
• Marie Kocurek
• Nancy Lieberman, former Phoenix Mercury player, first-ever coach of the Detroit Shock, now a basketball analyst on ESPN
• Muffet McGraw, now Head Coach at University of Notre Dame
• Rhonda Rompola, now Head Coach at Southern Methodist University
• Rosie Walker, MVP for the 1980-81 season
• Kaye Young, now Kaye Young Cowher, the wife of current NFL on CBS analyst and former Pittsburgh Steelers coach, Bill Cowher

[edit] Standings

[edit] 1978-79 season

Semifinals

• Houston 2-0 New York
• Iowa 2-1 Chicago

Finals

• Houston 3-2 Iowa

[edit] 1979-80 season

• Philadelphia and Washington disbanded after 10 games.

Quarterfinals

• San Francisco 2-1 Houston
• Minnesota 2-1 New Orleans

Semifinals

• Iowa 2-1 Minnesota
• New York 2-0 San Francisco

Finals

• New York 3-1 Iowa

[edit] 1980-81 season

• New England disbanded after 12 games.

Division playoffs

• Dallas 2-1 New Jersey
• Nebraska 2-0 Chicago

Finals

• Nebraska 3-2 Dallas

[edit] See also

• Women's National Basketball Association
• American Basketball League (1996-1998)
• National Women's Basketball League

[edit] External links

• John Molina's WBL page
• WBL logos
• WBL Memories
• WBL history with standings

[edit] References

1. ^ Porter, Karra (May 2006). Mad Seasons: The Story of the First Women's Professional Basketball League, 1978-1981. Bison Books. ISBN 0803287895.