The ODU Monarchs women’s basketball team contributed to the initial rise in popularity of women’s intercollegiate basketball in the United States in the 1970s. Women’s college basketball was organized under the auspices of the AIAW in the early 1970s, at a time when competitive power was distributed among small colleges that had established a niche (such as Immaculata, Delta State, West Chester State, Wayland Baptist and Stephen F. Austin).