The Golden Cyclones were a 1930s group of women athletes who played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) softball, basketball and track-and-field. Based in Dallas, Texas they were sponsored by the Employers Casualty Insurance Company (ECC) and coached by "Colonel" Melvin J. McCombs, manager of the ECC athletic program in Dallas. [1]
Babe Zaharias was their star team member from 1930-1932, leading the Golden Cyclone Basketball team to the AAU women's basketball championship|AAU Women's Basketball Championship in 1931. [2]
The Golden Cyclones were one of the dominant AAU teams of the era. In addition to the National Championship in 1931, they finished as the national runner-up in 1929, 1932 and 1933, while finishing fourth in 1930. [3] They held the offensive record for scoring the most points ever in a National Tournament game (97) as well as the defensive record for the fewest points ever allowed (4). [4]
In 1934, the Golden Cyclones were enrolled en masse into Dallas's new college, Dixie University, to become the college's women's basketball team known as the Dixie Rebels. Dixie instantly had a national championship-contending team in time for the 1934 national tournament. After winning its early games, the Rebels were trounced by the two-time defending champion Oklahoma City Cardinals in the quarter-finals. It appears that the Cyclones/Rebels never played another game. [5] [6]
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