Although Womens Basketball had been played at the Olympics back in 1924, it did not become an offical sport until 1976.
Shown above is the 1980 team. This includes many Stars, current and I am sure, future Hall of Famers. Sue Gunter was head coach, Tennessee Vols Pat Head (now Summit) was assitant. Players included Carol Blazejowski, Denise Curry, Anne Donovan (would like to meet her because this is the only picture I do not have signed), Tara Heiss, Kris Kirchner, Debra Miller, Cindy Noble, LaTaunya Pollard, Jill Rankin, Rosie Walker, Holly Warlick and Lynette Woodward.
As great a team this was, the U.S. would boycott the games in Moscow in protest of the invasion of Afghanistan. Nancy Lieberman would withdraw from the trials to be considered for the squad and was replaced by Debra Miller.
The team did go through the qualifying rounds with a 6-1 record, only losing to South Korea 89-88. Their average win was by 17.7 points a game. Denise Curry would be the offensive stand-out scoring 17.8 points a game.
Some of these players would go on to play in the WNBA years later. Woodard would go on to become the first woman Harlem Globetrotter.
|