The Dayton Rockettes was a women's professional basketball team located in Dayton, Ohio , United States. The team competed in the Women's Professional Basketball League , the first women's pro league in the United States, during the 1978-79 WBL season .
6-611: The Rockettes made their debut on 15 December 1978, losing to the Houston Angels 90–82, with Vivian Greene scoring their first points. The team was originally owned by Louis Deitelbaum but was re-possessed by the league in February after he stopped paying the bills. Dayton’s final "home" game was moved to Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, on April 8, 1979, as a showcase for potential buyers. After no buyers materialised,
12-566: The $ 3,000 to $ 5,000 salaries estimated by the Minnesota franchise and decided to sit out the 1978-79 season and retain her administrative position at Delta State. The team had an all-male cheerleading squad called the Guardian Angels, which team owner Hugh Sweeney promised wouldn't be a "sex show - this is high class". Houston finished the 1978-79 regular season with a league-best record of 26 wins and 8 losses, taking first place in
18-573: The Rockettes folded after the season. Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, W–L% = Winning percentage WBL All-Pro team WBL All-Star Houston Angels The Houston Angels was a team that played for two seasons in the Women's Professional Basketball League . The team won the league championship in the inaugural season defeating the Iowa Cornets three games to two in
24-629: The best-of-five tournament. The team played their games at the Astro Arena . The league began with a player draft held in Manhattan 's Essex House in July 1978, with eight teams participating. Houston drafted Ann Meyers from the University of California, Los Angeles and Lusia Harris , a collegiate standout at Delta State University . Harris was reluctant to commit to playing after hearing
30-482: The eastern Division. Houston defeated the second-place New York Stars two games to none in the best two-out-of-three semifinal round, winning the final game of the series by a score of 93–84 despite a game-high 38 points by Althea Gwyn of the Stars. Houston won the first two games of the series by scores of 89–85 and 112–98. Iowa won the next two games by scores of 110–101 and 89–79 to tie
36-651: The series at two games apiece and setting up a fifth and final game for the title. Behind 36 points by Paula Mayo , the Angels defeated the Iowa Cornets on May 2, 1979, to take the league's first championship, 111-104 in the fifth and final game of a best-three-out-of-five competition. Don Knodel was honored as WBL Coach of the Year for the 1978-79 season. The Angels were shifted to the Western Division for
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