Pearl Moore (born March 16, 1957) is a retired American professional basketball player who played for 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 ...

. During her collegiate career at

Francis Marion University Francis Marion University is a public university near Florence, South Carolina. It is named in honor of American Revolutionary War Brigadier General Francis Marion. History The university dates back to 1957, when the University of South Carol ...

, Moore established herself as one of the most prolific scorers in college history, male or female, and is the all-time career-scoring leader in women's college basketball. In 1979, she began her WBL career, playing with the New York Stars, then, the following season, Moore joined the St. Louis Streak. Moore was inducted into the

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's ba ...

in 2021.

Biography

Born in Florence, South Carolina, Moore began playing basketball while attending Wilson High School where she was in the starting line-up for all four years, and achieved early success, earning the MVP award at the 1975 and 1976

AAU Junior Olympic Games The AAU Junior Olympic Games'' are the pinnacle competitions held annually by the US Amateur Athletic Union. Overview The AAU Junior Olympic Games are known as the largest national multi-sport event for youth in the United States. It has become t ...

. Moore, who commenced her collegiate career with

Anderson Junior College Anderson Junior College (AJC) was a junior college established in 1984 and located in Yio Chu Kang, Singapore, offering two-year pre-university courses leading to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examinations. In 2019, it was merged w ...

for one semester (where she amassed 177 points in eight games), transferred to

, and, because of

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Inter ...

rules, she was immediately eligible to play the remainder of the 1975–76 season for the campus's team, the Patriots. Patriots head coach

Sylvia Hatchell Sylvia Rhyne Hatchell (born February 28, 1952) is a former American women's basketball coach, who last coached for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was the fifth with the most career wins in NCAA women's basketball history, be ...

reflected on Moore's unique ability to score: "She was outside, inside, she could handle the ball, draw fouls. I saw her wait for the defense to catch up with her so she could draw the foul and make a 3-point play. She was ahead of her time". During her junior year, Moore posted a then single-game record 60 points in a victory over

Eastern Washington State College Eastern Washington University (EWU) is a public university in Cheney, Washington. It also offers programs at a campus in EWU Spokane at the Riverpoint Campus and other campus locations throughout the state. Founded in 1882, the university is ...

in the 1978 AIAW Small College National Tournament. On March 10, 1979, in her final collegiate game, Moore scored 42 points against the

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT-Chattanooga, UTC, or Chattanooga) is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1886 and is one of four universities and two other affiliated institutions in the ...

to break the previous all-time record of 4,045 career points, previously set by

Travis Grant Travis Grant (born January 1, 1950) is a former American basketball small forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Los Angeles Lakers. He also was a member of the San Diego Conquistadors, Kentucky Colonels, and Indiana Pacers ...

Kentucky State University Kentucky State University (KSU and KYSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Frankfort, Kentucky. Founded in 1886 as the State Normal School for Colored Persons, and becoming a land-grant college in 1890, KSU is the second-o ...

. Overall, Moore averaged 30.6 points per game during her stint at Francis Marion, scored a total of 4,061 points in an era where the three-point arc was not incorporated into women's basketball, and helped lead the Patriots to three national championship appearances. Throughout her career with Francis Marion, Moore always scored in double-figures, and posted less than 20 points in only 18 of her total 128 games, which both testify to her dominance offensively. Moore graduated from Francis Marion in 1979 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

. She was subsequently selected in the first round by the New York Stars in the

draft. In her first professional season, the Stars concluded their regular schedule with the highest winning-percentage in the league. Despite a 36-point game from "Machine Gun"

Molly Bolin "Machine Gun" Molly Bolin (born Monna Lea Van Benthuysen; November 13, 1957) is a retired American basketball player who mainly played for the Women's Professional Basketball League. Although her accomplishments for the most part went unrecognize ...

of the

Iowa Cornets The Iowa Cornets was a team that played for two seasons in the Women's Professional Basketball League. George Nissen purchased the first franchise in the fledgling league on March 21, 1978 for $50,000. Nissen, who had been a star gymnast at the Un ...

, the Stars won the championship series behind a 27-point effort by Moore.Bradley, Robert
"HISTORY OF THE WOMEN'S PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE"
Association for Professional Basketball Research. Accessed October 11, 2016. She played another season, joining the St. Louis Streak, and participated in the 1981 WBL All-Star Game. When the WBL folded, Moore played the final season of her professional career with the Foreign Pro League of Venezuela. Following her pro career, Moore coached high-school teams. She has received recognition for her accomplishments in women's basketball with her induction into the FMU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Women's Hall of Fame in 2011. Michael Hawkins, who nominated Moore for the latter honor, called her one of college basketball's most prolific scorers and the best player Francis Marion ever produced. Moore currently hosts her own girls' basketball camp. In May 2021, Moore was selected to be inducted into the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

in its 2021 class.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Pearl 1957 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American women's basketball players Basketball players from South Carolina College women's basketball players in the United States Francis Marion University alumni Junior college women's basketball players in the United States Sportspeople from Florence, South Carolina Women's Professional Basketball League players