Basketball was incredibly popular among women in the early 1900s.

But in 1923 the first lady, Mrs. Herbert Hoover was SHOCKED that young women athletes were playing in front of male audiences??!! SCANDALOUS! The practice was stopped.

Soon after states began to close women's sports programs. It was believed that women were too dainty for vigorous physical activity!

In 1970-71 294,000 girls played high school sports. In 1976-77 that number increased to 1,645,000. This day and age anyone can play sports, from short and petite to large plus size women. Today over 13.5 million females play basketball!

And maybe the best basketball? The WNBA. There are 12 teams in the WNBA. The Minnesota Lynx and the Orlando Miracle are the newest teams. The WNBA's been around for 3 years. There was once another league, the ABL, but in December 1998, they checked out. They also use a different ball. It's one size smaller than the NBA's ball, and distinctively striped in orange and white.