KANEOHE, Hawai`i - Coach Lisa Johnson is seeing improvement with every shot as the Idaho Vandals hit the middle of the spring season and gear up for the conference tournament,

It was in the Vandals' tie for  ninth at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational where she started to see the effects of winter wearing off.

"We played better than we have thus far," Johnson said. "A couple players started their rounds poorly but were able to ifnish strong, which is encouraging."

Freshman Sophie Hausmann, coming off injury, led the Vandals with her tie for 28th with a nine-over 225. Kendall Gray and Michelle Kim were in a group at 230 to tie for 40th, while Cassie McKinley tied for 52nd with a 232, Kristin Strankman tied for 60th with a 235, Amy Hasenoehrl tied for 69th at 239, and Kassidy Long-Goheen was96th with a 264.

"We still have several areas of our games to fine-tune heading into April and the conference championship season," Johnson said.

The Vandals combined for a 914 for their ninth-place tie with Nebraska. Oklahoma State and Texas A&M were low with 860s. Texas A&M's Thanya Pattamakijsak was the medalist at eight-under 208.