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uar ding the University o f Montana's Marti Leiben· guth ( 15 ). Vandal Mary Westerwelle (321 shows why she was an AU-American selec· tion. Although the Lady Grizzles tripped the Vandals 72·64. Westerwelle scored 15 points during the game.
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he was the new kid on the block. Having lost only one starter from the 1984·85 NCAA pla yoff team . the Vandals filled the void wit h sophomore forward Susan Desl<ines (221. And against the University of Montana. Deskines looks to feed center Mary Raese 1231. The Vandals lost to the UM . 72·64.
hilly temperatures during the Mar· di Gra s parade neither failed t o cool the Lady Vandals ' enthusiasm n or the crowd's warm respon se. But the walk down Main Street may have taken its toll on the players because following the parade. cold sh o oting and a hot Uni ver· sity of Montana defense doomed the Vandals to a 72·64 defeat.
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Women's Basketball
shooting percentage was down from the 1985 season, so she looked .to improve her defense. The result was that Behrens established a school record for most steals in a career. Nevertheless, when it came to scoring, the Vandals looked to their two 6-4 towers Raese and Westerwelle. And over the course of the final five games of the season. the two senior All -American candidates averaged 50 pe rcen t of the Vandals' scoring. But though the final fiv e games were dominated by Raese and Westerwe lle. the season began with a total team effort. The women jumped off to a 10-0 r ecord before suffering their first defeat to the Temple University Owls in the Kangaroo Shootout. Perhaps the high point of the regular season occurred when the team upped its record to 14-1 and gained national attention by being ranked 20th in the Associated Press hoop poll. But the peak was followed by an immediate valley. when the team traveled to Missoula and Bozeman. Mont., and suffered a pair of defeats at the hands of its conference rivals, the University of Montana and Montana State. Gone was the lady's national ranking for 1986. The double defeat. although unfortunate . was not disasterous. The Vandals were still in the thick of the conference race and held se-
cond place behind Montana. And after establish in g a school attendance record of 5,047 fans during a home game against Eastern Washington University, the Vandals looked to grab first place with a victory over Montana. The victory never came. During the rain-soaked Mardi Gras weekend, the Vandals fell to the Lady Grizzlies in front of over 3.000 Kibbie Dom e fans. Th e loss guaranteed the Grizzlies would host the MWC playoff tournament.
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Anytime you finish 26-5, you can 't complain too much. Paula Getty
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Looking back on the season. Dobratz said, "We had a lot of pote ntial , but we n ever came together." Behre ns echoed h e r coach's opinion. "We had a lot of up and down times. I was definitely disappointed with the way I played." Yet even though the ladies were disappointed with the outcom e of the regular season, Getty perhaps summed up the season best. "I don't know why we didn't win [conference]." the junior guard said. "But anytime you finish 26-5, you can't complain too much."~