<P> However, Berenson was taking risks simply in teaching the game to women . She worried a little about the women suffering from "nervous fatigue" if games were too strenuous for them . And, in order to keep it "acceptable" for women to play at all, she taught modified rules . These included a court divided into three areas and nine players per team . Three players were assigned to each area (guard, center, forward) and could not cross the line into another area . The ball was moved from section to section by passing or dribbling . Players were limited to three dribbles and could hold the ball for three seconds . No snatching or batting the ball away from a player was allowed . A center jump was required after each score . Peach baskets and the soccer ball were the equipment . Uniforms consisted of attire similar to school uniforms, including long baggy shorts . Meanwhile current women's basketball uniforms consist of a jersey and gym shorts . Variations of Berenson's rules spread across the country via YMCAs and colleges . </P> <P> The first intercollegiate women's basketball game was played between teams from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, in 1896 . </P> <P> The popularity of women's basketball grew steadily around the world for decades . By the 1970s the sport had attracted the notice the International Olympic Committee, which added women's basketball as an official sport of the Olympic Games in 1976, the men debuted in 1936 . Throughout the 1970s, funding for (and interest in) women's basketball began to dramatically increase as schools receiving federal funding began to come into compliance with new laws mandating a lack of discrimination based on sex . The sport was also gaining attention at the collegiate level, under the auspices of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). A major development in women's basketball occurred in 1982 when the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began to sponsor the sport. . After several failed attempts at women's professional leagues in the U.S., the NBA founded the WNBA in 1996 . </P> <P> Rules for women's basketball are nearly the same as the rules for men's basketball . The most noticeable difference is that the circumference of the women's basketball is one inch (2.5 cm) less than the circumference of the size of the men's basketball . Also, in American professional basketball, the women's three - point line is slightly closer to the basket than men's . </P>

When did women's basketball become an olympic sport