85-86 women’s basketball team walk together into Pronghorns Hall of Fame

By Dale Woodard - Lethbridge Herald on January 26, 2022.

The 1985-86 University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s basketball team was a cohesive bunch.
They played together, practised together, studied together and even partied together.
Together, they also became the first Pronghorn women’s basketball team to qualify for the national tournament and win a medal.
On Saturday night at the 1st Choice Saving Centre as Pronghorns Athletics announced their newest inductees to the Pronghorn Hall of Fame, that Horns team from 37 years ago that captured a bronze medal at nationals officially earned their rightful spot alongside basketball player Danny Balderson and track and field athlete Jim Steacy.
Together, of course.
As the team held a post-ceremony photo session in front of the hallowed wall they will now go up on, Ingeborg Pot – the only fifth-year player on that team – reflected on the team unity that still stands today.
“I know we didn’t have a superstar on the team, but collectively our coaches were amazing to put together 12 individuals and we blended a team,” said Pot of the team of Lorraine Beaudin, Kathleen Brewin, Stacey French, Dawn Fry, Margie Gal, Sharon Hamilton, Sheila Hirch, Dori Rodzinyak, Jodie Savage, M.J. Sorensen, Pauline Van Roessel, head coach Louisa Zerbe, assistant coach Cal O’Brien and manager Bonnie Gostola. “We loved being together. Before practices we would meet in the swimming pool in the spectator area. We would always celebrate everybody’s birthday, we would get together during Christmas breaks when we had to go practise. We just did everything together and we’re still part of each other’s lives.”
Pot went on to coach other teams and though she headed up some good teams, she’s never been a part of one as cohesive as the 1985-86 team.
“I think one of things I can attribute to is that we practised hard, we played hard, we partied hard and had fun, but we did well in our studies. We had lots of Canada West academic Canadians on our team and we’re all professional women.”
Hosting the Canada West championship after finishing third that year, the Pronghorns lost to the defending CIAU Champion Victoria Vikes 68-57, but still qualified for the first ever CIAU Championships hosted in Winnipeg.
At the first national championship for the program, the Pronghorns faced the Quebec Champion, McGill Martlets and advanced with a 66-61 win.
Facing the undefeated Ontario Champion in the semifinal, University of Toronto, the Pronghorns fell to the eventual CIAU Champion Varsity Blues by a close 84-78 margin.
They didn’t go home empty handed, though, rebounding in the bronze medal game with an 81-73 victory over Lakehead to claim their first and only national medal for the women’s basketball program.
“In our semifinals when we played the University of Toronto, as a wild card team we were not even supposed to have gotten into the semifinals,” said Pot. “But we did and we were playing against a very good and very disciplined U of T team. I remember having the personal game of my life and the rest of the team did as well, and losing by six points to the eventual Canada national champions, I thought we did very well.”
They also regrouped in time to come back and still take a medal home the next day.
“It was heart-breaking, but at the same time it was an accomplishment that we still celebrate today,” said Pot. “It was my last game and it still makes me very emotional because I had five wonderful years here under the tutelage of Louisa Zerbe and Cal O’Brien and these wonderful ladies that supported me in everything I did. I didn’t want to leave that, but I knew the next part of my life had to move forward.”
Hamilton led the Pronghorns in scoring that season, while being named a Canada West First Team All-Star and a CIAU Second Team All-Canadian.
Rodzinyak was named a Canada West Second Team All-Star, a Canada West Tournament All-Star and a CIAU Tournament All-Star and Pot was named a Canada West Tournament All-Star.
Pot now lives in Stirling and the rest of her teammates remain close by.
“We have three in Calgary and one in Cranbrook,” she said. “We have a couple in Lethbridge and one in Magrath. We’re kind of close. One is in Edmonton.”
On Saturday night during halftime in the Pronghorn men’s game against the Mount Royal Cougars, each team member was introduced and took their place on the floor for a photo session.
As the Pronghorns of the past left the gym, they exchanged fist taps with the present Pronghorns women’s team.
More photos followed in front of the Wall of Fame.
“It was touching,” said Pot. “It was too bad under the circumstances we had to be masked and things like that. But I brought my family and every player here brought the most important people in their lives and if they couldn’t be here, they were watching.”
Pot said before the ceremony, she and her teammates FaceTimed with O’Brien, who is in the hospital at the moment.
“We wished he had been here because he was an integral part of who we are today and the couple of Zoom meetings we had leading up to today, Cal gave us some words of wisdom, which we were so appreciative of him recognizing that out of the 40 years he had coached he had never coached a team like ours that was so close and genuine to each other.”