1980–81 WBL season

1980–801 WBL season
League	Women's Professional Basketball League
Sport	Basketball
Duration	1980 – 1981
Number of teams	9
Draft
Top draft pick	Nancy Lieberman
Picked by	Dallas Diamonds
Regular season
Top seed	Nebraska Wranglers
Season MVP	Rosie Walker (Nebraska Wranglers)
Top scorer	Carol Blazejowski (New Jersey Gems
Playoffs
Finals
Champions	Nebraska Wranglers
Runners-up	Dallas Diamonds

The 1980–81 WBL season was the 3rd and final season of the Women's Professional Basketball League. The season ended with the Nebraska Wranglers winning the WBL Championship, beating the Dallas Diamonds 3 games to 2 in the WBL Finals.[1]

The league was divided into two divisions, with the Dallas Diamonds, New Jersey Gems, New Orleans Pride, San Francisco Pioneers and the New England Gulls in the Coastal Division and the Nebraska Wranglers, Chicago Hustle, St. Louis Streak and the Minnesota Fillies in the Central.

Prior to the season, Tampa Bay Sun was announced as a planned expansion team.[2] However, before the start of the season the franchise was sold to business men from Boston[3] and rebranded as the New England Gulls.[4] Struggling financially, the Gulls where disqualified after 12 games in January 1981 after refusing to play a game on January 15 and subsequently folded.[5]

Rosie Walker of the Nebraska Wranglers was named the league's MVP while Greg Williams and Michael Stavers of the Dallas Diamonds where named the Coach of the Year and the Owner of the Year.[6]

Notable occurrences

• On June 16, 1980, Nancy Lieberman was selected with the first pick in the 1980 WBL draft.[7]
• After sitting out the previous two seasons to keep her amateur status, Carol Blazejowski finally joined the league following the United States boycott of the 1980 Olympics, signing with the team that drafted her in 1978, the New Jersey Gems.[8][9] She went on to lead the league in scoring, averaging 29.6 points per game.[10]
• On February 7, 1981, Connie Kunzmann of the Nebraska Wranglers went missing.[11][12] Three days later, Lance Tibke, at the urging of his father, confessed to her murder. Seven weeks later, her body was found in the Missouri river.[13][14]
• On March 21, 1981, players of the Minnesota Fillies walked off the court before the starting lineups were announced in an away game against the Chicago Hustle in a protest over unpaid salaries. Referees and team coach Terry Kunze tried to convince the players to return and play their game, but at no avail. As a result, the Fillies, which had been averaging 1,000 to 1,500 in attendance per game, were suspended from the WBL by commissioner Sherwin Fischer, who called the walkout as "very detrimental to the league".[15]

Standings

#	Coastal Division
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Dallas Diamonds	27	9	.750	–
2	x-New Jersey Gems	23	13	.639	4
3	New Orleans Pride	18	19	.486	9.5
4	San Francisco Pioneers	14	22	.389	13
5	New England Gulls	2	10	.167	...

#	Midwest Division
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Nebraska Wranglers	27	9	.750	–
2	x-Chicago Hustle	18	18	.500	9
3	St. Louis Streak	14	21	.400	12.5
4	Minnesota Fillies	7	28	.200	19.5

Notes

• z – division champions
• x – clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

	Semifinals				Finals
	Nebraska Wranglers	2
	Chicago Hustle	0
					Nebraska Wranglers	3
					Dallas Diamonds	2
	Dallas Diamonds	2
	New Jersey Gems	1

Statistics leaders

Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points per game	Carol Blazejowski	New Jersey Gems	29.6

WBL awards

• Most Valuable Player: Rosie Walker, Nebraska Wranglers
• Coach of the Year: Greg Williams, Dallas Diamonds
• Owner of the Year: Michael Stavers, Dallas Diamonds[6]

All-Pro team

First team

• Rosie Walker (Nebraska)
• Nancy Lieberman (Dallas)
• Carol Blazejowski (New Jersey)
• Althea Gwyn (Chicago)
• Inge Nissen (Chicago)
• Janice Thomas (New Jersey)

Second team

• Cindy Haugejorde (San Francisco)
• Molly Bolin (San Francisco)
• Carol Chason (Nebraska)
• Rosalind Jennings (Dallas)
• Cindy Brogdon (New Orleans)
• Paula Mayo (Chicago)
• Trish Roberts (St. Louis)

Source:[6]

References

1. "Nebraska tops Dallas to clinch WPBL title". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. April 21, 1981. p. 5 (Section 4). Retrieved October 19, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
2. Dave Renbarger (August 15, 1980). "Sun rises on Tampa Bay horizon; WBL team has ball rolling". The Tampa Times. p. 2C. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Tampa Bay Sun sold". The Tampa Times. November 4, 1980. p. 2C. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Patty LaDuca (November 15, 1980). "Gems trade pair; Meyers unhappy". The Herald-News. p. 35. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Gulls out of WBL". The Belleville News-Democrat. UPI. January 22, 1981. p. D6. Retrieved October 19, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "WPBL picks Rosie Walker best player". Omaha World-Herald. May 9, 1981. p. 24. Retrieved October 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "WBL draft no surprise; Nancy Lieberman first". The Times-News. UPI. June 17, 1980. p. B4. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Phil Pepe (January 24, 1980). "Carol, the Blaze, big loser in games boycott". New York Daily News. p. 23C. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
9. "The Blaze signs with Gems". The Pantagraph. Associated Press. October 29, 1980. p. B1. Retrieved October 19, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Blaze vs. Lieberman highlights of playoffs". The Record. April 3, 1981. p. C4. Retrieved October 19, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Bruce Brothers (February 12, 1981). "WBL, Women's Professional Basketball League, Connie Kunzmann". Star Tribune. pp. 1D, 5D. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Ron Rosen (February 11, 1981). "A Death Stuns the WBL". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
13. "Guard pleads guilty to killing former Cornet". The Gazette. UPI. p. 3C. Retrieved June 23, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
14. Chris Ballard (February 24, 2022). "You Really Should Know Connie Kunzmann". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
15. "Fillies Walk Out And Draw a Suspension". The New York Times. Associated Press. March 22, 1981. Retrieved October 21, 2023.