Despite a losing record, 1974 was a year of firsts for UT Women’s basketball. The team played for the first time in Gregory Gym, long the site of men’s basketball games. The Longhorn Band and cheerleaders also performed for the first time at a women’s game, trainers worked for the first time with the team, and the women’s roster was published in the men’s program. Lastly, and arguably the most important, the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women was established operating on a first-year budget of $72,760.

Not to be forgotten was the first women’s basketball head coach and the first African-American head coach of any sport at UT, Rodney Page.  He coached the women’s basketball team from 1973 to 1976 and won 38 games. To learn more about Rodney Page’s time as the first head coach of Texas women’s basketball, check out “In his words: Rodney Page reflects and remembers” article.