This timeline of The University of Texas at Austin Women's Basketball program was created by Miriam Richards as part of her Spring 2012 Capstone project requirement. She did all of the original research, selecting of materials for exhibition, and web content writing. She would like to thank the Stark Center, especially Cindy Slater and Jan Todd, for sponsoring this project and for all of their support. She would also like to thank the following individuals for all of their guidance and help provided during the course of the project: Karen Pavelka, Capstone Advisor; Susan Sigmon, Communications Department, UT Athletics; Margaret Tiedeken, Sr. Administrative Associate, UT Athletics; Sonja Reid, Registrar, Harry Ransom Center; Jody Conradt, Former UT Women's Basketball Coach; Aryn Glazier, Photo Services, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
James Naismith had invented basketball in 1891, but it took almost ten years for the game to make its way to the South. On Saturday, January 13, 1900, it is said that Eleanore Norvell initiated the first women's basketball game at UT. The Ideson and Whitis coed teams played four rudimentary 10-minute quarters in the basement of the old Main Building. Whitis won by a final score of 3-2. This first game set into motion the emergence of basketball as a popular sport at UT, especially among women.
At the end of the 1902 season, the university's first "all-star" team was chosen. The team received recognition from UT publications such as the Texan, Cactus, and University Record as the varsity squad. Eleanore Norvell served as the coach and had eight players against the "Town Girls." The UT all-star team won 7-4, with observers paying a 10-cent admission fee. However, men were not allowed to watch so some peered through the windows of the gym and cheered.
Under the guidance of the Director of Women's Physical Education, Eunice Aden, recreational activities expanded. Resulting from this expansion was the formation of basketball teams for each class (freshman, sophomore, etc.). While basketball was the only sport with an intercollegiate component, it was largely an intramural and interclass event. "T" pins, letter sweaters and a "Texas blanket" were awarded to those students who achieved the highest levels of participation based on a point system and were considered a significant achievement for female athletes on campus.
With enthusiasm for playing basketball growing, Director Aden and Dean of Women Helen Marr Kirby kept a close eye on developments in the sport at UT. As compared to the early years of basketball's establishment at the school, the teams were not allowed to play off campus. For a period of time, contests were cancelled due to several unidentified "unfortunate incidents" in the interclass games. However, interest remained as keen as ever and basketball games would eventually resume.
In 1921, Anna Hiss replaced Eunice Aden as the Director of Physical Training for Women. Steeped in the nationwide philosophies of womanhood and femininity related to physical activity, basketball was seen as unfeminine and dangerous. Hiss strove to develop and maintain a program that kept basketball simply a sport of enjoyment. This notion stemmed from the belief in moderate physical activity, a de-emphasis of competition among women, and the encouragement of inclusive participation over individual achievement. Most important was the establishment of a female-run space for women's college athletics to protect athletes from the commercialization and professionalization that was common in the "male model" of sports.
Women's athletics classes were originally held in the Main Building, room permitting. They would then take over the basement of the Women's Building in 1903. In 1914, N Hall, commonly referred to as "the Shack," was acquired for women's athletics. Here, UT women's basketball players practiced and played for over 15 years. Staying true to the ideals of the time, N Hall had little standing room for spectators, particularly men.
Considered one of Anna Hiss's lasting achievements and a model facility during its day, the Women's Gymnasium was built in 1931 (The gymnasium was eventually renamed in her honor two years after her death in 1974). Hiss served as a crucial component in planning its construction having traveled, of her own expense, around the country to examine existing gymnasiums. Completed for $400,000, the facility included squash, handball, and basketball courts, dance studios, an archery range, a large swimming pool, and faculty offices. The basketball courts, however, were all undersized, designed to discourage spectators from watching. The baskets were also placed directly against the wall to keep athletes from playing out of control.
In 1933, Intramural Sports for Women and the University of Texas Sports Association were formed with UTSA serving as the head of women's sports clubs on campus. The organization was student elected and governed and oversaw program operations. Member dues and other projects funded UTSA and belonging to a club was considered a sign of prestige on campus. Occasionally, teams would travel to other schools, but mostly competed on campus. UTSA was also rooted in Hiss's ideologies, only meeting weekly in belief that women should not be active more than once a week. Additionally, students were allowed to belong to only one club. At this point in time, interclass games were less common and women's basketball functioned largely under Intramurals and consisted of sororities, dormitories, and other groups playing against each other in orange and white bracket tournaments.
For many years there was always a small group of individuals dissatisfied with the state of basketball at UT, urging for more intercollegiate competition and physicality. During the early 1940s, small changes were being made to the game elsewhere to make the sport less constricted, more like the men's game. Hiss was well aware of such changes and for many years stood strong against varsity teams and outside competition. Following World War II, Hiss did permit corecreational sports and incorporated "play days" where women and teams from different schools would gather for a weekend of competition and socializing.
Over time, as public sentiment changed, so did Hiss’s policies. She became more sympathetic of competition and open to the desires of the student-run organizations and by the 1950s basketball thrived within the intramural structure. Intramural champions were allowed to play teams from other schools and an all-star team competed against champions of a church league, something unimaginable in the early years of Hiss's tenure. While Hiss's traditionalist ideas largely prevailed throughout her career at UT, she was extremely successful in serving to expand women's athletics on campus.
