Nancy Lieberman
PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALLER
(1958 - present)
Playing hoops on the rough-and-tumble Harlem
courts, Brooklyn-bred Nancy Lieberman
learned to play a physical, aggressive style of
basketball unlike other women of her time.
Lieberman led Old Dominion University to
back-to-back national championships in 1979
and 1980. She was twice named as the Wade
Trophy winner - a basketball first. As the
nation's top female athlete during those two
seasons. Lieberman played professionally in
the Women's Professional Basketball League,
Women's American Basketball Association,
United States Basketball League, Women's
National Basketball Association, and with the
Washington Generals. Earning WBL MVP
honours with the Dallas Diamonds in 1981, she
led the team to the 1984 WABA championship.
Toni Stone
AMERICAN BASEBALL PLAYER
(1921 - 1996)
Toni Stone is an American baseball player
who, as a member of the Negro American
League's Indianapolis Clowns, was the first
woman to ever play professional baseball as a
regular on a big-league team. Able to run 100
yards in 11 seconds and maintaining a .243
batting average while with the Clowns, Stone
was taunted at times by teammates, once
being told, "Go home and fix your husband
some biscuits." She was undeterred, however,
and, during an exhibition game in 1953, she
hit a single off a fastball pitch delivered by
legendary player Satchel Paige. After playing
50 games with the Clowns, Stone was traded
to the Kansas City Monarchs, where she
retired at the end of the 1954 season.
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