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title: Women of Sports. The Best of the Best
in Basketball
author: Rutledge, Rachel.
publisher: Millbrook Press
isbn10 | asin: 076131301X
print isbn13: 9780761313014
ebook isbn13: 9780585228273
language: English
subject Women basketball players--Biography-
-Juvenile literature, Basketball for
women--Juvenile literature, Basketball
players, Women--Biography,
Basketball for women--History.
publication date: 1998
lcc: GV884.A1R88 1998eb
ddc: 796.323/082/0922
subject: Women basketball players--Biography-
-Juvenile literature, Basketball for
women--Juvenile literature, Basketball
players, Women--Biography,
Basketball for women--History.
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Page 1
WOMEN OF SPORTS
The Best of the Best in Basketball
By Rachel Rutledge
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Nancy Lieberman (right), who learned to play basketball on the
outdoor courts of New York City, was a college star at Old Dominion.
She led the Lady Monarchs to two national championships.
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Page 11
actually join her high school varsity until she was a senior. By then, she
had a fully developed set of skills that completely transcended the still-
developing girls' game. ''Blaze'' was unstoppable in college, regularly
pouring in 30 to 40 points a night. In 1977, she gave the sport a glimpse
of its future when she drew 12,000-plus fans to Madison Square Garden
for a game against Queens College, then treated them to an electrifying
52-point performance.
Others who laid the foundation for the current college game included
Ann Meyers (UCLA), Nancy Lieberman, Ann Donovan (Old Dominion)
and Lynette Woodard (Kansas).
Any of these stars could have held her own against the best collegians of
the 1990s, but the woman who ultimately cast the die for the modern
player was Cheryl Miller. At 6' 3" she had the size and the post-up game
to dominate in the paint. But she was also a silky smooth ballhandler
and a deadly shooter. Indeed, during four All-American seasons at the
University of Southern California, Miller was practically unguardable.
She had a basketball-playing brother against whom she could hone her
skills (NBA star Reggie Miller), and combined size with her speed and
all-around skills. Plus, she brought an aggressive attitude to the court.
She "walked the walk and talked the talk"and was even known to throw
one down every once in a while!
The stars of the 1970s and early 80s boosted the popularity of women's
basketball to new heights. But they were part of an even bigger picture.
During this time, the demographics of America shifted dramatically.
Women were entering the workplace in unprecedented numbers, and
had more spendable income, more decision-making power and more
leisure time than ever before. What entrepreneurs and sports marketing
experts saw in these emerging trends was a real possibility for women's
professional basketball. In 1978, the first such attempt was made, with
the formation of the Women's Professional Basketball League. The
WPBL
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Page 12
limped along for a few years, and made occasional headlines by offering
huge salaries to the likes of Meyers and Blazejowski, but it folded when
attendance bottomed out.
Thus for more than a decade, the best college players had to make an
uncomfortable choice after graduation. They could continue playing
toplevel basketballif they were willing to live and work in a European
countryor they could stay at home and compete (with little or no
compensation) for the national team in the Pan Am Games, Goodwill
Games, World Championships of Basketball, and the Olympics.
Choosing the latter meant having to earn a living as a coach or in some
other job. Players used to competing in 30 to 50 games a year generally
found the inactivity unbearable, and went overseas to play pro ball.
Fortunately, the news was not all bad for American women. After years
of watching the Soviets walk away with top international honors, the
U.S. team began striking back. America won Olympic gold in 1984, and
again in '88, to assert its dominance on the world scene. Meanwhile, the
NCAA was working tirelessly to promote its top stars and teams. In
1993, the Women's Final Four was a sellout for the first time, and in
1994 the national championship was decided on a long-range buzzer-
beater by North Carolina's Charlotte Smith. Television ratings and
attendance soared during the 1990s, proving that money could be made
if women's ball was marketed correctly. Slowly but surely, plans were
laid to form a professional league.
The target year was 1996. With the Olympics being held in Atlanta and
the men's national team a virtual lock to win a gold medal, the eyes of
America's basketball fans would be on the women. If they won the gold,
there would be enough interest and plenty of money to sponsor a pro
circuit. If they lost, however, pro basketball might not get off the
ground. In preparation for Atlanta, USA Basketball began assembling
and training the Olympic team in 1995. Many top players turned down
six-figure salaries from foreign teams to "invest" a year of their lives in
this cause.
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By the time the Olympics rolled around, Team USA was functioning
like a well-oiled machine, and the individual players were familiar to
millions of fans. They won the gold in convincing fashion.
Cheryl Miller, a four-time All-American at USC in
the 1980s, set the standard for today's top
players. She combined quickness, size, power,
and agility. And like her brother, Reggie, she
loved to make the big shot in the big game.
The national team's easy triumph in Atlanta generated such enthusiasm
that two pro leagues were formed: the American Basketball League and
the Women's National Basketball Association. At first, critics claimed
that two organizations would drive up salaries, divide interest and cause
the downfall of both leagues. But after two seasons, the ABL and
WNBA were in far better shape than anyone could have imagined. The
following chapters focus on key players in both leagues. Some are part
of the "old guard" of women's basketball, while others represent the
future of the sport. Together they will define where it goes and how it
gets there.
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Cynthia Cooper
When Cynthia Cooper arrived in Houston, she was expected to be a
role player. She ended up leading the Comets to the WNBA title.
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As a rule, great basketball players are born, not made. The talent is
there, waiting to be coaxed out of them at an early age. Then it is honed
to a fine edge through years of coaching and practice. Cynthia Cooper
had this greatness within her, yet no one including Cynthia herselfhad a
clue it was there.
Indeed, her path to stardom was anything but direct. Born in Chicago
and raised in the Watts section of Los Angeles, Cynthia was the
youngest of eight children being raised by Mary Cobbs, a single mother.
There was rarely the time or the opportunity for basketball when she
was littlethe schoolyards of Watts are no place for a young girl. Looking
back on her childhood, though, Cynthia realizes the lessons she learned
before she ever set foot on a court served her well once she started
playing ball in ninth grade.
"You have to grow up fast in that kind of environment," she says. "If
you don't, it could be detrimental to your health! I think my experiences
helped me to be mentally as well as physically tough, and able to meet
some major challenges and demands I have been faced with."
Cynthia first came to basketball as an escape. "I wanted to get into some
kind of physical activity that would interest me and keep me off the
streets," Cynthia recalls. Why basketball? "I started because I saw a
young lady put the ball behind her back and then make a layup. I
thought I'd like to learn how to do that."
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Needless to say, Cynthia had a lot of catching up to do. She went out for
the Locke High School team, competing against girls who had been
playing organized ball for years. Luckily, Cynthia's natural ability and
eagerness to learn caught the eye of coach Art Webb, a legendary
teacher and motivator, who knew a diamond in the rough when he saw
one. Cynthia exceeded even her coach's lofty expectations, however,
when she became Los Angeles's Player of the Year during her senior
season. Behind her 31 points per game, Locke won the California state
championship. From there, she accepted a scholarship to the University
of Southern California.
Cynthia Cooper and guard Tammi Reiss of
the Utah Starzz enjoy a job well done during
the WNBA's All-Star 2-ball competition at
New York's Madison Square Garden.
Like most student-athletes, Cynthia had a difficult time adjusting to
college life her freshman year. "When I started at USC I don't think I
was quite ready to juggle schoolwork, practice, games and time for
myself," she recalls. "It wasn't easy learning to put all the pieces of the
puzzle together." As always, her solution to the problem was simply to
work harder. And if she did not understand something in class, or had a
hard time with a concept on the basketball court, she did the smart thing:
she raised her hand and asked. Cynthia finished the 1981-82 campaign
with a 14.6 scoring average, and was named a Freshman All-American.
Her next two seasons were even more rewarding, as she teamed with
Cheryl
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Produced by
CRONOPIO PUBLISHING
John Sammis, President
and
TEAM STEWART, INC.
Series Design and Electronic Page Makeup by
JAFFE ENTERPRISES
Ron Jaffe
Researched and Edited by
Mark Stewart and Michael Kennedy
All photos courtesy
AP/ Wide World Photos, Inc,
except the following:
Michael Zito/Sports ChromeCover
Copyright © 1998 by Cronopio Publishing LLC
All rights reserved.
Print in the United States of America
Published by
The Millbrook Press
2 Old New Milford Road
Brookfield, Connecticut 06804
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rutledge, Rachel.
The Best of the Best in basketball/ by Rachel Rutledge.
p. cm. (Women of Sports),
Includes Index
Summary; Discusses the past and future of women's basketball and presents biographies
eight of the sports most famous players: Cynthia Cooper, Teresa Edwards, Lisa Leslie,
Rebecca Lobo, Nikki McCray, Dawn Staley, Kate Starbird, and Sheryl Swoopes.
ISBN 0-7613-1301-X (lib. bdg.).ISBN 0-7613-0443-6 (pbk.)
1. Women basketball playersBiographyJuvenile literature. 2. Basketball for women
Juvenile literature. [1. Basketball players 2. WomenBiography. 3. Basketball for wome
History] I. Title II. Series: Best of the best in basketball
GV884.A1R8 1998
796.323'082'0922
[B]DC21
pbk: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
lib: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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ket, or pulling up and popping a classic jumper.
White's eye-opening skills began to open some minds, too. When she
began, the women's game was still incredibly restrictive. From 1949 to
1961, for instance, the rules allowed only two dribbles before a player
had to pass or shoot, and from 1961 to 1966 a payer could only bounce
the ball three times. Not until the 196667 season did unrestricted
dribbling come to women's basketball. That same year, all players were
allowed to leave their "zones" and go the length of the floor for the first
time.
Ann Meyers was the first female athlete to
earn a full scholarship to UCLA, She grew up
playing ball with her brother, Dave, who was
a top player for the UCLA men's team and
later an All-Star in the NBA.
Finally, in the 1971-72 season, women's basketball assumed its present
form, with five-on-five fullcourt action. Something the women's game
had at the time that the men's game did not was a 30-second shot clock.
First introduced in 1969 on an experimental basis, it sped up the action
and gave a huge advantage to women who could create shots for
themselves.
The first college player to command national attention was Carol
Blazejowski of Montclair State College, in New Jersey. She learned
basketball playing in pickup games near her home in Cranford, and did
not
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Miller to guide USC to back-to-back national championships. Miller
may have been the marquee superstar for the Women of Troy, but it was
Cynthia who kept the team loose and provided a special kind of
leadership. When asked about Cynthia, her coach at USC, Linda Sharp,
liked to say that her upbeat attitude and tireless work ethic added a
unique dimension to the team. It kept the USC players cohesive when
the pressures of playing for a championship could have torn the team
apart.
Getting Personal
Cynthia was born in Chicago, Illinois on April14 1963....She
was the youngest of eight kids... Between seasons in high
school, Cynthia used her speed and jumping ability to star for
the Locke High School track team. She held the national high
school record for the fastest time in 330-meter hurdles...Cynthia
majored in Physical Education at USC...She says she treats
people the way she would like to be treated, except on the
court"but that's basketball," she smiles.
In the days before women's professional basketball took hold in the
United States, the top college players actually had to leave the country in
order to advance to the next level and earn a living in the game. When
Cynthia graduated from USC in 1986, she decided to continue her career
in Spain. The thought of leaving her mother troubled her, but she just
could not pass up the opportunity to play professionally. Thus began an
11-year odyssey, during which Cynthia established herself as one of the
finest players in the world. Nine times during that period she led her
team in scoring, and in 1987 she was named Most Valuable Player of
the European All-Star Game. In 1996, her last season away from the
U.S., Cynthia shot out the lights at the prestigious European Cup
tournament, averaging more than 37 points per game.
At the 1988 Olympics, Cynthia helped the Americans win by playing
solid defense and contributing 14 points a game. Cynthia stood beside
her teammates as they waited to accept their gold medals, and began
thinking about how far she had come since her days in Watts. She
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Contents
Chapter Page
In the Beginning 4
Cynthia Cooper 14
Teresa Edwards 20
Lisa Leslie 26
Rebecca Lobo 32
Nikki McCray 38
Dawn Staley 44
Kate Starbird 50
Sheryl Swoopes 56
What's Next 62
Index 64
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to form company teams. These teams competed against one another on a
regional basis, boosting worker morale and giving the companies with
the best squads tremendous publicity. Sometimes a company would go
out of its way to hire a woman it knew was an accomplished ball player,
even if a legitimate job did not exist.
This was how a wiry 13-year-old girl from Beaumont, Texas, came to
work as a typist for the Employers Casualty Company in 1928. Mildred
Didrikson was already well known in Texas as the finest schoolgirl
player anyone had ever seen. With a dream of becoming the greatest
athlete in historyand no real competition in high schoolshe eagerly
joined Employers Casualty, which sponsored women's teams in several
sports. While with the company, Didrikson did a little typing and a lot of
winning, taking titles in track, swimming, and ice skating, and setting a
world record in the javelin throw. She also led the Golden Cyclones to
the AAU basketball championship in 1931. "Babe," as everyone called
her, went on to make headlines in the 1932 Olympics, winning medals
in every event she entered.
In the years just prior to World War II, Alline Banks Sprouse emerged
as the best player in the country. A 5-10 forward with a great shooting
touch, she played for several company teams in the south during the
1930s and 1940s, and was voted the AAU's top player nine times. The
better her opponents, the better Sprouse played. In an All-Star game held
in New York's Madison Square Garden, she scored an unheard-of 56
points.
During the 1950s and 60s, the "queen of the courts" was Nera White,
who earned All-America honors 15 times. Playing for the Nashville
Business College, she led the team to 10 AAU titles, and was named the
tournament MVP 10 times. More important than her countless trophies
was that White narrowed the gap between men and women. She could
do all of the things that female players were not supposed to be able to
do, such as dribbling around opponents, powering her way to the bas-
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Career Highlights
Year Team Honor
1981 Locke High School L.A. High School Player of the Year
1981 Locke High School California State Champion
1982 USC Freshman All-American
1983 USC National Champion
1984 USC National Champion
1986 USC NCAA All-Tournament
1988 Parma (Italy) Three-Point Shooting Champion
1988 Team USA Olympic Gold Medalist
1992 Parma (Italy) Three-Point Shooting Champion
1992 Team USA Olympic Bronze Medalist
1997 Comets WNBA Scoring Champion & MVP
1997 Comets WNBA Champion and Playoff MVP
thought about her brother, Everett, who had died three years earlier,
consumed by the same streets from which she had managed to escape.
Then Cynthia spotted her mother, sitting in the stands, as proud as can
be. "That was one of the greatest and saddest moments of my career," she
recalls. "Three years after Everett was buried, I won my first Olympic
gold medal and he wasn't there to share it with me. But it was the 29th of
September, my mother's birthday. She was there, and I got to present her
with the gold medal."
Today, Cynthia is a star in the WNBA. She had a great first year,
winning the MVP and leading the Houston Comets to the league title.
When she hangs up her sneakers, she wants to coach. She will bring to
her young players a keen understanding of basketball, and a success story
that ranks among the most inspiring in all of sports. And she will also
serve as an example of just how much a talented player can accomplish if
she is willing to work hard and never lose faith in her own abilities. As
Cynthia likes to say, "It's been a struggle to get to where I am today, and
I don't take anything for granted. I never doubted myself. I've always had
confidence in my game."
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In the Beginning
Grab a few basketball fans on their way out of an ABL, WNBA or
NCAA game and ask them to tell you something about the history of
women's hoops. You'll get some pretty interesting answers. A lot of
folks, for example, believe the college game is just a couple of decades
old. Others probably think that women have been playing organized ball
only since the 1940s. Imagine their surprise when they learn that women
have been playing as long as men: since the early 1890sbefore
basketball even had a name!
It all started back in the early winter of 1891, when basketball literally
sprung from the mind of Dr. James Naismith. He was a physical
education instructor at the School for Christian Workers in Springfield,
Massachusettsthe "training college" for all YMCA administrative
personnel. Like all YMCA workers, Naismith believed that being a
"good Christian" meant staying physically fit. In the fall, his students
played football, soccer and rugby, and in the spring they ran track and
played baseball. But during the winter months, there was little to hold
their
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Carol Blazejowski (#8) put women's college basketball on the map in
the 1970s. She scored a record 3,199 points for Montclair State, and
later starred for the New Jersey Gems in the first women's pro league.
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Though in her mid-30s, Cynthia has lost none of her speed or desire.
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interest during the hour they were required to spend in the gymnasium
each day. Their choices were limited to calisthenics, tumbling, marching
or heaving a medicine ball around with essentially, nothing to st oke
their competitive fire.
Mildred "Babe" Didrikson was
the toast of the 1932 Olympics
for her track and field exploits.
Almost forgotten is that she first
made headlines in the 1920s as
a schoolgirl basketball star.
Naismith's boss, Dr. Luther Gulick, was aware of this problem, and
decided that a new indoor sport needed to be invented. After several
teachers tried and failed, Gulick assigned this task to Naismith, who was
an accomplished multi-sport athlete. The game Naismith devised
borrowed from other popular sports of the day, but made the act of
scoring safe for indoor playin other words, there would be no tackling,
kicking or overhand throwing. To score a goal in Naismith's game, a
player would have to gently lob a soccer ball into a box, which would be
nailed to the balcony that encircled the playing floor. A couple of hours
before he introduced the new sport to his noon class, he asked the
janitor, Pop Stebbins, for a box. The best Pop could do was round peach
basket. Fine, said Naismith, the shape wasn't important.
The good doctor's game was an immediate hit with the students. Soon,
almost everyone at the school was playing.
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A week or so after the historic first game, word of the new sport (which
was as yet unnamed) spread to the nearby Buckingham Grade School. A
group of female teachers stopped by the gym on their lunch break and
watched from the balcony. They agreed that it would make a fine
activity for young ladies, and asked Dr. Naismith if he would teach them
how to play. He agreed, and during this tutorial he struck up a
relationship with one of the teachers, Maude Sherman. The two ended
up getting married.
By 1892, "Basket-Ball" had both a name and a devoted following. It was
during this period that two pioneers of the women's game first got
involved. Senda Berenson, the physical education director at Smith
College, believed that basketball was an ideal sport for young women.
Berenson was something of a radical. At a time when almost everyone
believed that physical exertion was bad for women, she believed that it
was what they most needed. She was, however, concerned that
basketball might be too rough for her students. Berenson did not want
them smashing into one another, as the men often did, nor did she like
the idea that a defensive player could snatch the ball away from an
opponent. It just wasn't "ladylike." In fact, when she authored the
official women's basketball rules for Spalding in 1899, stealing was
outlawed. Also, to limit the area players had to cover, Berenson divided
the court into three sections, and no player was allowed to leave her
area.
The first female professional team began play in 1915, and they called
themselves the Edmonton Commercial Grads. As the name implied, they
were graduates of a commercial high school in the Canadian province of
Alberta. They played in Canada, the United States and Europe, and once
won 147 games in a row.
In the United States, the driving force behind women's basketball was
the Amateur Athletic Union, which began holding tournaments and
selecting All-America teams in the mid-1920s. The best AAU clubs
were those sponsored by organizations that encouraged their female
employees
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Teresa Edwards
In 1997, Teresa became the first player-coach
in pro basketball in more than 20 years.
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