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Women's American Basketball Association

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The Women's American Basketball Association (WABA) is a name given to four professional women's basketball leagues in the United States. The first league played one season in 1984. The second league played an All-Star Tour in 1992 and then three full seasons from 1993-95. The third league played one season in 2002. The fourth league is in expansion and starts play in 2012.[1]

The first Women's American Basketball Association (WABA) was founded by Bill Byrne, founder of the WBL in hopes of cashing in on the USA Olympic team's success in Los Angeles in 1984. While some talented players played in the league (including Nancy Lieberman, Molly Bolin, Pamela McGee and Paula McGee) most of the league's teams folded before the league championship, which was won by Dallas over Chicago.

The Women's Basketball Association (WBA) was the first Women's Professional basketball summer league. The league was called the WABA and WWBA for the first All-Star tour in 1992, before settling on WBA. The pioneer league was formed in 1992 and played three full seasons from 1993-95.[2] The WBA played a 15-game schedule and games were broadcast on Liberty Sports of Dallas. The All-Star games were also televised on Fox Sports. Nancy Lieberman was the TV announcer for the 1995 All-Star game. The WBA played three full seasons with plans to play as a 12-team league in 1997, but disbanded before the 1997 season. When Fox Sports purchased Liberty Sports and the WBA, they disbanded the league shortly after and sold off the franchising rights. The league is considered to be the first American professional women's basketball league to be successful as a SUMMER league, like the WNBA. Guard Laurie Byrd played for the WABA, WBA, American Basketball League,and the WNBA.

The Women's American Basketball Association (WABA) formed in 2001 and played one season in 2002. The 2002 championship game was played June 2, 2002 and won by the York City Noise. Meggan Yedsena from the NWBL and Colorado Chill led the Schuykill (Pa.) Syrens in the league's inaugural season. Some of the teams made the transition to the WEBA and continue to play Semi Professional Basketball. Yedsena was the only player to play in both the 90's WABA (for Nebraska) and the 2002 WABA.[3]

WBA Champions 1993 - 1995

WABA Clubs 2002

  • Allentown Crunch
  • Reading Rage
  • Schuylkill Syrens
  • Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Scream
  • Wilmington Jaguars
  • York City Noise

WABA Clubs 2012

WBA Results 1993-95

1993 Regular Season
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Nebraska Express 13 2 .867
Missouri Mustangs 10 5 .667
Oklahoma Cougars 3 12 .200

WORLD CONFERENCE
Kansas Crusaders 10 5 .667
Iowa Unicorns 5 10 .333 5
Illinois Knights 4 11 .267 6
MVP: Sarah Campbell

WBA FIRST ROUND Playoffs
Iowa 119, Missouri 103
Missouri 98, Iowa 93
Missouri 117, Iowa 112 (OT)
Kansas 92, Oklahoma 77
Kansas 114, Oklahoma 64

Nebraska 166, Illinois 129
Nebraska 127, Illinois 115

WBA SECOND ROUND Playoffs
Kansas 121, Missouri 97
Kansas 109, Missouri 99

WBA CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Kansas 125, Nebraska 119
Nebraska 118, Kansas 100
Kansas 111, Nebraska 96
Kansas 100, Nebraska 98 (*KANSAS: FIRST WBA CHAMPIONS)

MVP: Robelyn (Robbie) Garcia

1994 WBA Regular Season
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Nebraska Express 10 5 .667 5 Indiana Stars 8 7 .533 7 Oklahoma Flames 3 12 .200 12 Iowa Twisters 1 14 .067 14

NATIONAL CONFERENCE Regular Season
Kansas City Mustangs 15 0 undefeated regular season
Memphis Blues 10 5 .667 5 St. Louis River Queens 9 6 .600 6 Kansas Marauders 4 11 .267 11
MVP: Evette Ott, Sarah Campbell

1994 WBA FIRST ROUND Playoffs
Memphis Blues 126, St. Louis River Queens 111 Memphis 122, St. Louis 110 Indiana 107, Oklahoma 91 Indiana 103, Oklahoma 91

WBA SECOND ROUND Playoffs
Kansas City 98, Memphis 94 Memphis 101, Kansas City 87
(winner determined by total points - Memphis 195, Kansas City Mustangs 185 *disputed*)

Nebraska 99, Indiana 89 Nebraska 91, Indiana 87

1994 WBA CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Memphis 102, Nebraska 101 Nebraska 123, Memphis 108 Memphis 138, Nebraska 128 Nebraska 111, Memphis 101 Nebraska 103, Memphis 101
MVP: Maurtice (Tice) Ivy

1995 WBA Regular Season
American Conference
Chicago Twisters 15 1 .938 .. Nebraska Express 6 9 .400 8.5 Minnesota Stars 5 10 .333 9.5 Oklahoma Flames 5 10 .333 9.5

National Conference Regular Season Results
St. Louis River Queens 9 7 .562 .. Kansas City Mustangs 7 8 .467 1.5 Kentucky Marauders 7 8 .467 1.5 Memphis Blues 7 8 .467 1.5

1995 Last WBA CHAMPIONSHIP 29 July l995 Chicago 107, St. Louis 96 MVP Diana Vines & Petra Jackson
Compiled by Robert Bradley, Jack Black, Robelyn Garcia, and Dennis Slusher.

Notable Players

See also

References

  1. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20060616173846/http://hometown.aol.com/bradleyrd/women.html
  2. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20060616173846/http://hometown.aol.com/bradleyrd/women.html
  3. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20060616173846/http://hometown.aol.com/bradleyrd/women.html
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