The first collegiate basketball for women was played at Smith College in 1893, and a separate set of rules for the women's game appears to have been drawn up in 1895. A game between the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University was played in April 1895, two years before the first officially recognized men's college game. The older, six-player women's "rover" game gave way to a five-player game similar to men's basketball in the late 1960s.

With the growth of women's sports in general in the United States from the 1970s on, and the change of rules, spectator and participant interest in women's basketball on the high school, collegiate, and professional levels increased. Play-offs determining regional and national college champions are conducted annually by the NCAA. The NCAA took over this function from the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) in the early 1980s; the AIAW ceased operations in June 1982. In 1976 women's basketball was added to the Olympics roster. Briefly, in 1980 and 1981, professional basketball teams of women competed across the country. The Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) was established in 1978, and by 1980 nine teams were playing in the United States. Competition stopped, however, by 1982 because of lack of public support. While the league existed, such well-known Olympic and college players as Nancy Lieberman, Carol Blazejowski, and Inge Nissen were prominent professionals. Both Blazejowski and Lieberman won the Margaret Wade Trophy for collegiate player of the year.