Editing Basketball (section)

===Women's basketball===
{{see also|Women's basketball}}
[[File:Smith-College-Class-1902-basketball-team.jpg|thumb|The Smith College Class 1902 basketball team]]
[[File:2006 World Championship for Women Australia.jpg|upright=1.8|thumb|The [[Australia women's national basketball team|Australian women's basketball team]] on winning the [[2006 FIBA World Championship for Women]]]]

Women began to play basketball in the fall of 1892 at [[Smith College]] through [[Senda Berenson Abbott|Senda Berenson]], substitute director of the newly opened gymnasium and physical education teacher, after having modified the rules for women. Shortly after Berenson was hired at Smith, she visited Naismith to learn more about the game.<ref name="Pioneers in Physical Education">{{cite web |url=http://clio.fivecolleges.edu/smith/berenson/1biog/19411000/index.shtml?page=4 |title=Pioneers in Physical Education |pages=661–662 |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090620173552/http://clio.fivecolleges.edu/smith/berenson/1biog/19411000/index.shtml?page=4 |archive-date=June 20, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Fascinated by the new sport and the values it could teach, she instantly introduced the game as a class exercise and soon after teams were organized. The first women's collegiate basketball game was played on March 21, 1893, when her Smith freshmen and sophomores played against one another.<ref name="Senda Berenson Papers">{{cite web |url=http://clio.fivecolleges.edu/smith/berenson/ |title=Senda Berenson Papers |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203084349/http://clio.fivecolleges.edu/smith/berenson/ |archive-date=February 3, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smith.edu/newssmith/fall2003/100.php |title=You Come in as a Squirrel and Leave as an Owl |access-date=June 3, 2011 |last=Peacock-Broyles |first=Trinity |work=Smith.edu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615080005/http://www.smith.edu/newssmith/fall2003/100.php |archive-date=June 15, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> The first official women's interinstitutional game was played later that year between the [[University of California, Berkeley|University of California]] and the Miss Head's School.<ref name="Jenkins">{{cite web |last=Jenkins |first=Sally |title=History of Women's Basketball |url=http://www.wnba.com/about_us/jenkins_feature.html |work=WNBA.com |access-date=January 21, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130106144210/http://www.wnba.com/about_us/jenkins_feature.html |archive-date=January 6, 2013}}</ref> In 1899, a committee was established at the Conference of Physical Training in Springfield to draw up general rules for women's basketball.<ref>The conference took place at the YMCA training school - see [https://web.archive.org/web/20160121231122/http://clio.fivecolleges.edu/smith/berenson/1biog/18990600/ newsclip] (archived)</ref> These rules, designed by Berenson, were published in 1899.<ref name="Berenson1901" /> In 1902 Berenson became the editor of [[Spalding (sports equipment)|A. G. Spalding]]'s first Women's Basketball Guide.<ref name="Senda Berenson Papers" /> The same year women of [[Mount Holyoke College|Mount Holyoke]] and [[H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College|Sophie Newcomb College]] (coached by [[Clara Gregory Baer]]), began playing basketball. By 1895, the game had spread to colleges across the country, including [[Wellesley College|Wellesley]], [[Vassar College|Vassar]], and [[Bryn Mawr College|Bryn Mawr]]. The first intercollegiate women's game was on April 4, 1896. [[Stanford Cardinal women's basketball|Stanford]] women played [[California Golden Bears women's basketball|Berkeley]], 9-on-9, ending in a 2–1 Stanford victory.

Women's basketball development was more structured than that for men in the early years. In 1905, the executive committee on Basket Ball Rules (National Women's Basketball Committee) was created by the [[American Physical Education Association]].<ref name="Historical Timeline">{{cite web |url=http://www.wbhof.com/timeline.html |title=Historical Timeline |access-date=June 2, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090621024009/http://www.wbhof.com/timeline.html |archive-date=June 21, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> These rules called for six to nine players per team and 11 officials. The [[International Women's Sports Federation]] (1924) included a women's basketball competition. 37 women's high school varsity basketball or state tournaments were held by 1925. And in 1926, the Amateur Athletic Union backed the first [[NAIA national women's basketball championship|national women's basketball championship]], complete with men's rules.<ref name="Historical Timeline" /> The [[Edmonton Grads]], a touring Canadian women's team based in [[Edmonton, Alberta|Edmonton]], Alberta, operated between 1915 and 1940. The Grads toured all over North America, and were exceptionally successful. They posted a record of 522 wins and only 20 losses over that span, as they met any team that wanted to challenge them, funding their tours from gate receipts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.histori.ca/minutes/lp.do?id=13113 |title=The Great Teams |access-date=June 2, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100812064236/http://www.histori.ca/minutes/lp.do?id=13113 |archive-date=August 12, 2010}}</ref> The Grads also shone on several exhibition trips to Europe, and won four consecutive exhibition Olympics tournaments, in 1924, 1928, 1932, and 1936; however, women's basketball was not an official Olympic sport until 1976. The Grads' players were unpaid, and had to remain single. The Grads' style focused on team play, without overly emphasizing skills of individual players. The first women's [[Amateur Athletic Union|AAU]] All-America team was chosen in 1929.<ref name="Historical Timeline" /> Women's industrial leagues sprang up throughout the United States, producing famous athletes, including [[Babe Zaharias|Babe Didrikson]] of the [[Golden Cyclones]], and the [[All American Red Heads Team]], which competed against men's teams, using men's rules. By 1938, the women's national championship changed from a three-court game to [[6 on 6 Basketball|two-court game with six players per team]].<ref name="Historical Timeline" />
[[File:Brittney Griner accepting Wade Trophy 2.jpg|thumb|left|[[Brittney Griner]] accepting an award]]
The NBA-backed [[Women's National Basketball Association]] (WNBA) began in 1997. Though it had shaky attendance figures, several marquee players ([[Lisa Leslie]], [[Diana Taurasi]], and [[Candace Parker]] among others) have helped the league's popularity and level of competition. Other [[women's professional sports|professional women's basketball]] leagues in the United States, such as the [[American Basketball League (1996–98)]], have folded in part because of the popularity of the WNBA. The WNBA has been looked at by many as a niche league. However, the league has recently taken steps forward. In June 2007, the WNBA signed a contract extension with [[ESPN]]. The new television deal ran from 2009 to 2016. Along with this deal, came the first-ever rights fees to be paid to a women's professional sports league. Over the eight years of the contract, "millions and millions of dollars" were "dispersed to the league's teams." In a March 12, 2009, article, [[NBA]] commissioner [[David Stern]] said that in the bad economy, "the NBA is far less profitable than the WNBA. We're losing a lot of money among a large number of teams. We're budgeting the WNBA to break even this year."<ref>''[[Television New Zealand]]'', [http://tvnz.co.nz/basketball-news/nba-getting-through-tough-times-2539976 BASKETBALL | NBA getting through tough times] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318010025/http://tvnz.co.nz/basketball-news/nba-getting-through-tough-times-2539976 |date=March 18, 2015 }}</ref>