How Did Cheryl Miller And The Championship Game That Change Women's Basketball

Aneka Happer
HIST 585
April 27, 2023

Cheryl Miller and the Championship Game that Changed Women’s Basketball

At halftime, the University of Southern California’s “Women of Troy” were down 26-37 against Louisiana Tech, the defending champions. It was the 1983 women’s NCAA championship game, only the second year the organization had held a tournament for female basketball players. “The Lady Techsters,” of Louisiana, were led by coach Sonja Hogg, “this very southern, big blonde hair, dynamo on the sideline,” who had led the team to victory the year before. But, the Women of Troy had freshman star Cheryl Miller. During halftime, The Women of Troy were down 26-37. USC’s coach Linda Sharp told the team to “press,” and Miller did exactly that,

According to a 1982 Sports Illustrated article, “as a high school senior she was the most highly recruited woman athlete ever,” a type of recognition that was rare for female high school basketball players at the time. Interestingly, the article emphasizes that her more remarkable accomplishment was scoring two of the 105 points by a one-handed breakaway dunk. They cited her as “the only woman ever to jam in organized competition,” a feat that is frequently forgotten and instead credited to Georgeann Wells (the first woman to dunk in the NCAA) or Lisa Leslie (the first woman to dunk in the WNBA). Miller had been playing basketball since she was five years old, often with her father and older brothers, including Reggie Miller who went on to play 18 seasons at the NBA for the Indiana Pacers. When she began her college career, choosing to go to USC over more than 250 schools, she gained even more popularity. Many said that she “played the game with a quickness and athleticism that you just didn’t see in women’s basketball at the time.”4 In addition, she actually embraced the recognition which was also unusual for the time. Ultimately these characteristics of her as a basketball player were what challenged the traditional idea of respectability and instigated

For years she worked in sports broadcasting, with the same commanding presence she displayed on the court. She would frequently interview male basketball stars like Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal who knew her talent and success as a collegiate athlete. Doris Burke pointed out that “[to watch] those men were embracing a basketball person…who happened to be a woman, and treating her as equal, that is where society changes.”17 Although she no longer plays basketball, she left a legacy on the court along with her fellow teammates at USC. In the 1983 NCAA championship against The Lady Techsters, The Women of Troy accomplished more than just a victory against the “politics of respectability”–they themselves embodied a rejection of this ideology. As athletes, they showcased their talent and creativity on the court. By displaying this skill and their individuality, they fought to change society’s perception of them as African American women. Bennett College thought that “Black college women in particular were considered conveyors of character in culture.” The Women of Troy took ownership of this role and displayed a new kind of culture, one in which they were celebrated, as athletes, as African Americans, and as