Category: American Basketball League 1996-1998

1996-97 Portland Pride media guide from the American Basketball League

Portland Power

August 8, 2013

The Portland Power were the Rose City’s original women’s professional basketball team, playing parts of three seasons between 1996 and 1998. The team set up show in 1996 at Memorial Coliseum, abandoned a year earlier by the NBA’s Trail Blazers in favor of the newly opened Rose Garden Arena. 6′ 2″ former UCLA center Natalie Williams established herself as one the American Basketball League’s top players, leading the league in scoring and rebounding en route to MVP honors in 1998. Although one of the ABL’s more popular team, the Power abruptly closed for a business a few days before Christmas in 1998 when the league disbanded midway through its third season.

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Philadelphia Rage American Basketball League

Philadelphia Rage

August 8, 2013

The Philadelphia Rage were a women’s professional basketball team that operated for a season-and-a-half in the American Basketball League in 1997 and 1998. The franchise started out in Virginia as the Richmond Rage during the ABL’s 1996-97 inaugural season. The 1997-98 Rage club finished in last place despite the presence of three women’s game legends on the roster in Adrienne Goodson, Taj McWilliams and Philly native Dawn Staley. The team and the ABL itself abruptly disbanded in December 1998 just six weeks into the league’s third season of play.

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Jennifer Azzi San Jose Lasers

San Jose Lasers

July 7, 2013

The San Jose Lasers were a franchise in the women’s American Basketball League, which debuted in October 1996 and briefly competed against the NBA-backed Women’s National Basketball Association. The Lasers split their home games between the San Jose Event Center, where they held the majority of their games, and occasional dates at the larger San Jose Arena. The Lasers posted losing records during both full ABL seasons, but still managed to sneak into the playoffs both years.

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Nashville Noise American Basketball League

Nashville Noise

January 13, 2013

Nashville’s entry in the women’s American Basketball League, an early competitor of the WNBA. The Noise joined the ABL for the league’s ill-fated third season in the fall of 1998 and managed to play only 15 games before the league folded in midseason.

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1996-97 Columbus Quest Program from the American Basketball League

Columbus Quest

December 27, 2012

The Columbus Quest were the first and only champions of the women’s American Basketball League, a top-flight early competitor to the WNBA that launched in the fall of 1996. The Quest won the ABL title in 1997 and repeated in 1998, but the club collapsed along with the rest of the ABL two months into the league’s doomed third season in December 1998.

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