First Women’s Basketball Game

1903

First Women’s Basketball Game

1903

First Women’s Basketball Game

In 1903, women played their first intercollegiate basketball game at UT. Competitive team sports had become part of the UT women’s athletic program around 1900, despite reservations that they were too demanding for the “delicate female condition.” Basketball, sometimes played under distinctly different rules, became the first women’s varsity sport. Opponents included Maryville College, the University of Chattanooga, Carson-Newman, Martha Washington College, and the Tennessee School for the Deaf and Dumb.