| 1981 WIBC season | |
|---|---|
| League | Women's National Basketball League |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | 19 June 1981 – |
| Teams | 9 |
| TV partner | ABC |
| Regular season | |
| Top seed | North Adelaide Rockets |
| Top scorer | Julie Nykiel (Noarlunga Tigers) |
| Finals | |
| Champions | St. Kilda Saints |
| Runners-up | North Adelaide Rockets |
| WNBL seasons | |
TheWomen's Interstate Basketball Conference (WIBC) was the inaugural season of what would become theAustralianWomen's National Basketball League (WNBL).
On 4 October 1980, during the Australian Women’s Club Championship in Sydney, a meeting of delegates from six of the leading clubs in Australian women’s basketball was held. The clubs were North Adelaide Rockets, West Adelaide Bearcats and Glenelg fromSouth Australia and CYMS (Catholic Young Men's Society), Melbourne Telstars and St. Kilda Saints fromVictoria.[1]
The meeting resolved to form a two-round competition between these teams to be held in July and August in 1981. The basis for the idea was that many of the top sides in both states wanted a varied competition from their standard state leagues as well as a suitable preparation for the Australian Club Championship, which was held on an annual basis for the top 24 teams in the country. With the formation of the men'sNational Basketball League in 1979, the women felt that one of the best ways to develop the game was to provide more opportunities for the best players and clubs to play against each other more regularly.[1]
A major consideration was finance and with this in mind the competition was formed with the six teams with a full home and away series between all teams with three games on one weekend to save costs. TheNew South Welsh teams ofBankstown Bruins and Sutherland Sharks were not happy due to costs and offered to pay their own way to Melbourne and Adelaide where they would play each team once for double points.[1]
In 1981, theAustralian Institute of Sport was also opened and the men's head coach Dr.Adrian Hurley contacted the clubs and asked whether the AIS could also participate in the competition to commence later that year.[1]
The competition commenced on 19 June 1981 with the first game to be played inAdelaide between theAIS and West Adelaide Bearcats.[1]
The competition was named the Women’s Interstate Basketball Conference with each the teams paying the sum of $25 to be a part of the WIBC – giving a central fund of $200 to conduct the competition.[1]
The ladder at the end of the regular season.[2]
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | For | Against | Won % | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Adelaide Rockets | 13 | 10 | 3 | 832 | 713 | 77 | 116.69 |
| 2 | St. Kilda Saints | 13 | 11 | 2 | 892 | 751 | 85 | 118.77 |
| 3 | West Adelaide Bearcats | 13 | 6 | 7 | 803 | 848 | 46 | 94.69 |
| 4 | Melbourne Telstars | 13 | 8 | 5 | 880 | 786 | 62 | 111.96 |
| 5 | Bankstown Bruins | 10 | 6 | 4 | 599 | 571 | 60 | 104.9 |
| 6 | Catholic Young Men's Society | 13 | 5 | 8 | 807 | 840 | 38 | 96.07 |
| 7 | Noarlunga Tigers | 13 | 4 | 9 | 828 | 957 | 31 | 86.52 |
| 8 | Australian Institute of Sport | 10 | 2 | 8 | 581 | 656 | 20 | 88.57 |
| 9 | Sutherland Sharks | 10 | 2 | 8 | 523 | 623 | 20 | 83.95 |
| Semi-finals | Grand Final | ||||||||
| 2 | St Kilda Saints | 80 | |||||||
| 3 | West Adelaide Bearcats | 53 | |||||||
| 2 | St Kilda Saints | 77 | |||||||
| 1 | North Adelaide Rockets | 58 | |||||||
| 1 | North Adelaide Rockets | 66 | |||||||
| 4 | Melbourne Telstars | 63 | |||||||
The inaugural winner was St. Kilda Saints defeating North Adelaide Rockets 77 points to 58. St. Kilda Saints also went on to win the Victorian State Championship and the Australian Club Championship inMelbourne defeatingBankstown Bruins in the final. St. Kilda Saints had threeAustralian representatives in Tracy Morris,Karen Ogden andPatricia Cockrem.[1]
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