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Machine Gun Molly: WBL Legend
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One of the true pioneers (that belongs in the The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame ) in the history of women's basketball, Molly Bolin Kazmer, was also the first player signed to a contract in the first Women's Professional Basketball League in the United States. In 1978 the Women's Pro Basketball League was launched by founder Bill Byrne, and existed for three seasons before folding. But it was "Machine Gun Molly" who set a precedent for female athletes in the sport with her high scoring abilities on the court and tireless efforts off the court in promoting Women's
Basketball.
Molly began playing basketball after moving to Moravia, Iowa (pop. 700) while in the fifth grade. Iowa has a long history of girls high school basketball and enjoyed tremendous popularity with the six on six rules that the girls played until the 1980s. She played on her junior high team at Moravia and attended her first basketball camp the summer before she started high school. In her first game as a junior, she scored 63 points on her 16th birthday. It was just the beginning as she averaged 50.4 ppg as a junior and 54.8 per game as a senior. Molly scored over 70 points in a thirty-two minute game five times and set a single game scoring record of 83 points. She would finish with 1370 points for the season, also a school record. She was selected as a High School All-American and was invited to try out for the Pan Am team.(in preparation for the 1976 Olympics coached by Cathy Rush) Even though she had never before played a full-court game, she was selected to attend the Final Trials.
Molly was recruited to Grandview College in Des Moines, Iowa, and went on to set several records and lead her team to it's first national tournament appearance. Molly only played two seasons at Grandview but after the first season she married Dennie Bolin and returned a year later after her son, Damien, was born. Molly graduated in 1978 with a degree in telecommunications.
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The Iowa Cornets were the first team in the WBL and they signed Molly to a contract in the office of then Iowa Governor, Robert Ray in June of 1978. She struggled early on to find her place on the team, then broke out to score 53 points in one game and set a league record in mid-season. She played in the first WBL All-Star game held at the Felt Forum in New York City, then led her Iowa team to a league championship play-off with the Houston Angels. Houston would win the best of 5 series, 3 games to 2. Molly was selected to the WBL's All-Pro Team.
During the first regular season, Molly would average 16.7 ppg and lead the Cornets into the playoffs. Although known as a deadly shooter already, few know that she is just as deadly at the free throw line shooting 77% for the entire season (2nd in league)
In the playoffs Iowa would beat the Chicago Hustle 2 games to one before losing 3-2 to the Houston Angels for the first WBL title. Of the 2 teams to play for the championship, Molly would lead both teams with a playoff scoring average of 19.6
In the second season of the WBL, the league expanded from 8 to 14 teams and Molly truly stepped into the spotlight as a star player.
The Iowa team centered their offense around her and she responded by leading the league in scoring with a 32.8 ppg ave. Over a 36 game season, she totalled 1179 pts
(Editors note: An ALL TIME for professional womens basketball, that by all accounts still stands). She would be 3rd in the league in free throws this season with a .791 average.
She also had several record breaking performances that season with single games of 50,54 and 55 points. She also
scored an incredible 38 points in one half, a league record she matched several times.
Molly was also a very tough player that didn't want to come out of any game. In a key game against Minnesota, she left the game early in the second quarter with a separated shoulder. While the Iowa coach was thinking his play-off hopes were over because of her injury, Molly insisted on returning to the game a short time later and had the best game of her career in a big win for Iowa. She scored 55 pts, had 9 rebounds, 11 assists and even blocked a shot.
A sportswriter from the Washington Post tagged her with the
nickname, Machine Gun Molly, after witnessing "her rapid-fire ability to score points," and soon other teams in the league followed suit.
For the second year, the Iowa Cornets won the Midwest Division to advance to the Championship playoffs against the New York Stars and their coach, Dean "The Dream" Meminger. Game 3 in the series was held at Grandview College (in Des Moines) and Dean was prepared to stop Molly with his box and 1 defense. With the Cornets down 0-2, Molly thrilled the hometown crowd and scorched the nets with 49 points to keep Iowa alive. The New York Stars beat the Iowa Cornets for the league Championship, however, once again it was Molly that stood up during the playoffs. In the 7 playoff games she would appear in (Iowa would beat the Minnesota Fillies 2-1), Molly would score an avg of 33.1 ppg with a .515 field goal percentage. She would up her free throw percentage to 81.7 percent during the games.
The Minnesota Fillies were Iowa's biggest rival in the Midwest Division during the second season. Molly was a player who stepped up in the big games as evident in her stats against the Fillies that year. In five games she scored 203 points for an average of 40.6 ppg while shooting .561% from the floor and .822% from the line.
Molly was named to the All-Pro first team and was the WBL's Co-MVP with Ann Meyers who played her first and only season with the New Jersey Gems. Although the Cornets led the league in attendance, the team folded after two seasons after a failed transfer of ownership.
Note: Molly was nominated for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for consideration in 1999 and that nomination is still valid. She is soon to be nominated for the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Please show your support of her nomination by sending an email to the links.
The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville Tenn.
The Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield Mass.
Page 2 of Molly Bolin
Page 3 of Molly Bolin
Contact the Author, John Molina
Listed below are other web sites dedicated to the history of Women's Basketball by John Molina
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