University of Texas Austin - Cactus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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alancing old and new talents asketball by Fran Harris Jody Conradt said in October her 1986-87 version of the Lady Longhorns would be different from last year ' s Na- tional Championship team and she was right. It will be interesting to see how this team handles the pressure of being ranked number one, Conradt said. I ' m not making any predictions. Conradt in her 1 1th season at Texas, didn ' t have to. Every sportswriter in the country tabbed the Lady Longhorns as the pre-season ' s top team, an honor they lived up to last season. For starters, Conradt brought in two of the top players in the country, Doreathea Conwell, a junior from Odessa Junior College who was con- sidered the top junior college player in the nation, and freshman Susan Ander- son who had been named the High School player of the Year in 1986. After a month of practice the Lady Longhorns played their first game of the season, an exhibition match against the Red Star Club of Yugoslavia Nov. 23. Yulonda Wimbish led the Horns to a 79-69 win by scoring 22 points. After gaining confidence from the win, UT defeated Rice 85-53 Jan. 3 in a conference opener, and then went to Fayetteville, Arkansas to play the Lady Razorbacks Jan. 6. Arkansas had a history of giving UT a tough time and this was no exception. UT struggled, but held on to win 59-56. Andrea Lloyd and Beverly Williams each finished with 12 points. UT defeated Baylor Jan. 10, 88-58. Then they traveled to College Station to defeat Texas A M 94-60 Jan. 1 4. The Lady Longhorns then defeated Texas Tech 74-52 Jan. 24 in the Erwin Center after a tentative start. Four days later, Texas played Houston and almost suffered its first conference upset since 1978. Behind the efforts of guards Williams and Wimbish and forward Lloyd, Texas prevailed 79-73. So far undefeated, the second round was what Conradt called the second season, or post-season tournaments. Up to this point nothing really mat- ters, Conradt said. This is the part of 1 80 Women ' s Basketball the season that really counts. After receiving a first round bye in the SWC post-season tournament in Dallas, UT defeated Texas Tech 73-49 during a second round game March 7. In the next game, Arkansas gave UT a scare. At halftime, Davis and Lloyd had only eight points between the two of them, UT trailing 38-31. The game remained close for most of the second half until Texas made its first rally and scored eight unanswered points to take a 65-63 lead. Led by Williams who finished with 27 points and was named most valuable player for the second year, the Lady Longhorns won 72-70. Williams and Lloyd also both made the All-American team. The win gave UT an automatic bid into the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament March 11-15. UT came up against St. Joseph University and then James Madison University and defeated each to ad- vance to the Mideast Regional Cham- pionship game Jan. 21 against Rutgers University. UT struggled for much of the first half as Rutgers ' defense allowed Texas ' Lloyd and Davis only eight points between the two of them. The second half Jooked like the first half as Texas could get no shot closer than ten feet from the basket. It took heroic efforts of freshman Ellen Bayer, Anderson and Lyssa McBride to save the Horns from a defeat. UT eventually went on to defeat Rutgers 85-77. That win moved the Ladyhorns to the Final Four in Austin against Louisiana Tech March 27. The Lady Techsters started the game by shooting nearly 60 percent in the first half. UT shot only 45 percent but trailed by only four points at halftime. Texas took a seven point lead during the second half, but Tech was deter- mined and they continued to get easy baskets inside. With 1 5 seconds remain- ing, Wimbish hit a shot that made the score 77-75, but that was not enough as the Lady Techsters defeated the Horns 75-79 in front of a record crowd of 15,303. Despite the loss, Conradt said she was pleased with the season. It didn ' t end the way we wanted, said Conradt. But the players have no reason to hang their heads. UT finished the season 33-2. RECKLESS: Pennee Hall, education junior, loses the ball against Rutgers, Mar. 21. MOBBED BY THE MOMENT: Lyssa McBride, liberal arts freshman and Pennee Hall, education junior, are surrounded by enthusiastic teammates after clin- ching the Mideast Rcgionals against Rutgers.

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. rolling over non-conference foes by Nick Sa ran takes The Lady Longhorn Basketball team began non-conference play with the am- bitious goal of repeating last year ' s undefeated season. Although the Lady Horns were unable to meet this goal, the non-conference season was more than successful. The Lady Horns started the defense of their National Championship title, ranked at the top of the Associated Press pre-season poll. But Head Coach Jody Conradt wasn ' t sure that the Horns deserved the top ranking. I have felt at other times we were deserving. Potentially, we have a chance this year. But right now, when you look at the inexperience of this team, it may be stretching it a bit, she said. The season started at the University of Southern California Invitational Nov. 28 against seventh-ranked Long Beach State. The Lady Horns easily won 100-86. Then, in a rematch of last season ' s national championship, the Lady Horns faced the then sixth-ranked USC and again won. This time 89-69. The next game was in Moscow, Idaho, where the Lady Horns played the University of Idaho. The game was a pleasant homecoming for UT forward Andrea Lloyd, who graduated from Moscow High School, since Texas trounced Idaho 87-44. The home opener for Texas was in the Dr Pepper Texas Classic against Notre Dame Dec. 5. The game was the first meeting between the Irish and Texas. The 84-59 victory over Notre Dame moved Texas into the tournament championship game against 15th- ranked Ohio State. Texas won 99-78, with 29 points from tournament Most Valuable Player Clarissa Davis. The next game was in Monroe, Loui- siana, Dec. 9. The game put the Horns ' streak up against the Lady Indians ' 32- game home winning s treak. The game ended with an 85-60 Texas victory. UT versus UT was the name of the game for the McDonald ' s Challenge, when the third-ranked University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers visited Texas. The Horns ' streak was broken here as they missed some key free throws resulting in their first loss, 85- 78. Tennessee, as a result, took the top spot in the poll, while Texas fell to third. Conradt said the team was able to learn from this loss. Although I ' ve been harping on them all season about keeping their intensity level up, we had been chugging along just fine. Then bang, a tough loss comes around, and they begin to realize they need to be more of a team and play with a little more intensity, Conradt said. The Horns needed this intensity for the Orange Bowl Burger King Invita- tional. The tournament featured three of last year ' s final four teams. The first team that the third-ranked Horns faced was Temple University. The Horns were able to easily defeat the Lady Owls 93-57. The next round of the tournament was against 16th-ranked Ohio State. The Lady Horns beat the Lady Buckeyes for the second time in the season 97-63. The tournament cham- pionship was a revenge match against the top-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers. This time, the Lady Horns beat Tennessee 88-74. After the game the Horns reclaimed the top ranking in the poll. The last non-conference game of the year was against 19th-ranked Western Kentucky. The last time the two teams met was in the 1985 National Collegiate Athletics Association playoffs. The Lady Hilltoppers had defeated the Horns, keeping the Horns out of the Final Four. This time the Horns were able to force 26 turnovers in front of 9,541 fans to win 63-41. The Hilltop- pers were intimidated, even in the opi- nion of their coach. I wish you guys would tell me why we shot 25 percent and 3 1 for the game, and turned it over 26 times, Paul Sanderford said. I ' d like to think it was the intimidation factor. LOOK OUT: Beverly Williams, liberal arts sophomore, pulls down a rebound against Texas Tech, Jan. 24. IN CONTROL: Andrea Lloyd, sociology senior, avoids an SMU defender, Jan. 17. J . - ' : I . 1 1 I 1 82 Women ' s Basketball