Women’s basketball in 1898: The Normal Eyte, “Athletic.”

Pictured+above+is+a+1903+portrait+of+the+Iowa+State+Normal+Schools+womens+basketball+team.+

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Pictured above is a 1903 portrait of the Iowa State Normal School’s women’s basketball team.

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Editor’s note: This article is part of the Northern Iowan’s coveage of Women’s History Month.

The following is an article originally published in The Normal Eyte on Feb. 5, 1898. It recounts a women’s basketball game on UNI’s campus, at the time titled the Iowa State Normal School (I.S.N.S.). There is no writer credited for the piece.

It was indeed an interesting game of basket ball played in the ladies’ gymnasium last Saturday afternoon. The teams, I.S.N.S. and Hawkeye, marched out upon the grounds in double file, each player in rank with her opponent. The I.S.N.S. team wore white sashes and the Hawkeye, yellow. Each team gave its yell and then the players took their positions and the game began. Nr. Mortland officiated as time-keeper and Miss Satterthwaite as umpire. Each half consisted of twenty minutes. The game was spirited but was played very good naturedly. The ball, at times, seemed everywhere. Now it was at one end, not at the other, now among the spectators, and once it lodged up on the ceiling between the rafters. The Hawkeye team played well and succeeded in getting the ball into the basket twelve times, but the I.S.N.S. team out played it. They made score after score until at the close their number was twenty-six.

The Hawkeye players played too fast and nervously when they had possession of the ball and generally threw it too high. There were a few foul plays but the interest was so intense that the ball was passed on and the fouls overlooked. Among the star players of the Hawkeye team may be mentioned Misses Odle, Noland, Loveland, and Rhodes. Those of the I.S.N.S. team are Misses VanWinkle, England, Berner, and Black. We hope to see another game with the Hawkeyes better trained.