Court Queens Chronicles the Rise of Women’s Basketball

From the 1890s to today, the new book highlights the players who defined the game

A new book celebrating the history and rise of women’s basketball is set to be released this month, and one of its co-authors is longtime sportswriter Emma Baccellieri, who covers women’s sports for Sports Illustrated.

Baccellieri, a North Carolina native, graduated from Ardrey Kell High School in Charlotte before attending Duke University. She has spent years covering women’s basketball and the rapid growth of the sport at both the college and professional levels.

Baccellieri co-authored Court Queens: Celebrate the Players, Teams and History of Women’s Basketball with journalist Jordan Robinson. Robinson also co-hosts The Women’s Hoops Show with four-time Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) champion Sheryl Swoopes, discussing the WNBA, Unrivaled, Athletes Unlimited and college basketball.

The book, published by Black Dog & Leventhal, an imprint of the Hachette Book Group, explores more than a century of the sport — from its early roots in the 1890s to the modern explosion of interest surrounding today’s stars.

The book highlights pioneers such as Senda Berenson, who introduced women’s basketball at Smith College in 1892, while also celebrating legends like Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie and Diana Taurasi, along with current stars including Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese.

In an interview, Baccellieri said the project was designed to tell the sport’s story through the athletes who helped shape it.

"The last few years have been such an exciting time in women's basketball, and it felt like a wonderful opportunity to dig into the history and provide some context for how the sport got to where it is today."

While researching the book, the authors uncovered stories and connections that span generations of women’s basketball.

"It was remarkable to see how the game was passed down from generation to generation, long before there were opportunities for women to play professionally, or even to play competitively in college. One of my favorite connections is in the collage of photographs that we have under the dust jacket on the cover. There's a collection of modern star players, but right next to Caitlin Clark, breaking the NCAA scoring record at Iowa, we have an old, black-and-white photograph of a 1960s high school girl in the state playoffs in Iowa. (And she's in front of a packed gym and showing off a great hook shot!) I loved that you could almost draw a line from those girls playing decades ago to everything that we see on the court right now." 

The book arrives at a moment when women’s basketball is experiencing unprecedented attention, fueled by record television audiences and growing interest in both the college and professional games.

"It's cliche, but the future really does feel so bright for the sport right now." Baccellieri said. "College players are finally carrying their popularity with them into the WNBA, and as the league keeps expanding and the experience gets more professionalized, it's exciting to think of what might come next."

Court Queens is being released this week and will be available through major booksellers and online retailers.