The Milwaukee Does were an American professional basketball team that played in the

Women's Professional Basketball League The Women's Professional Basketball League (abbreviated WBL) was a professional women's basketball league in the United States. The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. The league was the first professional w ...

. Based in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, their name was a play on that of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

. The Does played in the first two of the WPBL's three seasons, 1978–1979 and 1979–1980, before disbanding. The team played its home games at the

Milwaukee Arena Milwaukee is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the 31st-most populous city in the United States and the fifth-most populous city in the Midwest with a population of 57 ...

and were coached for part of the 1979–1980 season by

Larry Costello Lawrence Ronald Costello (July 2, 1931 – December 13, 2001) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He played for the Philadelphia Warriors and the Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA, and the Wilkes-Barre Baro ...

, who had coached the Bucks from their inception, including an NBA championship in 1971. The league played its first game on December 9, 1978, between the hometown Does and the Chicago Hustle at the Milwaukee Arena, with the league's inaugural game attracting four minutes of coverage in the previous night's

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with

Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' from 1962 to 1981. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trust ...

. Milwaukee mayor

Henry Maier Henry Walter Maier (February 7, 1918 – July 17, 1994) was an American politician and the longest-serving mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, holding office from 1960 to 1988. A Democrat, Maier was a powerful and controversial figure, presiding ove ...

issued a proclamation likening this first game to the first professional football game, played in

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, and the first pro baseball game, played in

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. The opening tip off was between Lynda Gehrke of Milwaukee and Sue Digitale of Chicago, who won the toss.

Joanne Smith Joanne Smith is an American business executive. She is the Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Delta Air Lines, serving in this role since October 1, 2014. Upon her appointment she replaced Mike Campbell. Education Smith has a ...

scored the league's first basket on a perimeter jump shot and an assist from Brenda Dennis, with the game ball presumably earning a place of honor in the

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, as surmised by the ''

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''. Milwaukee had trailed for most of the game, behind 13 points one minute into the fourth quarter, but defensive pressure by the Does led to a series of turnovers and Milwaukee tied the score at 81 with 5:28 left in the game. The Hustle's offense heated up in the last few minutes and held on for a 92–87 win in the league's first game. Kathy DeBoer and Joanne Smith led the Does with 22 points each, though Debra Waddy-Rossow of the Hustle lead all scorers with 30 points. The team was rather unsuccessful on the court during its two seasons in the league. The team finished the 1978–79 season with a record of 11 wins and 23 losses, placing them in fourth and last place in the Midwest Division. In the Midwestern Division for the 1979–80 season, the Does finished with a record of 11 wins and 24 losses. Their coach for the 1979–80 season was Larry Costello, who had been the coach of the Milwaukee Bucks for eight seasons, starting in April 1968, and had coached the team to four division titles and an NBA championship in the 1970–71 season. Saying that he hadn't been paid any of his $45,000 salary since December, Costello left the team on February 6, 1980, and was replaced by Julia Yeater, the team's assistant coach, on an interim basis.via

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"Costello, Coach of Does, Resigns Citing Pay Default"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', February 7, 1980. Accessed August 6, 2010.

References

{{Women's Professional Basketball League Basketball in Milwaukee Women's Professional Basketball League teams Basketball teams in Wisconsin 1978 establishments in Wisconsin Basketball teams established in 1978 Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1980 1980 disestablishments in Wisconsin Women's sports in Wisconsin