page_title: Senda Berenson Abbott
section_title: Modifying the rules
hierarchical_section_title: Senda Berenson Abbott / Women's basketball origins / Modifying the rules
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a diagram of the basketball court in use for women's basketball consistent with rules adopted in 1899.
context_page_description: Senda Berenson Abbott was a figure of women's basketball and the author of the first Basketball Guide for Women. She was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor on July 1, 1985, the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1987, and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
  Berenson was the first person to introduce and adapt rules for women's basketball to Smith College in 1899, modifying the existing men's rules.
  Abbott was the sister of the art historian Bernard Berenson and a great-great-aunt of Berry Berenson and Marisa Berenson.
context_section_description: Berenson was pleased with the reception to the game but felt some changes were needed. She thought the game had a "tendency to roughness", so she sat down with her class to discuss how to modify the rules. She divided the court into three regions and prohibited players from leaving their assigned region. Players could not dribble more than three times, hold the ball for more than three seconds, or snatch the ball from an opponent.
  The Division of Girls' and Women's Sports of the American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation felt the need for a written set of rules specifically applicable to the women's game and asked Berenson to undertake a publication outlining the rules. Berenson formalized her rules into a set of official rules – Line Basketball or Basket Ball for Women, often referred to as Basket Ball for Women. In 1901, the Spalding Library published the rules with Berenson as editor and would continue to publish them for eighteen years. Berenson organized the United States Basket Ball Committee in 1905, where she served as chairman until 1917. The rules would remain in use with only minor modification until the 1960s.
caption: This is a diagram of the basketball court in use for women's basketball consistent with rules adopted in 1899.
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