O.C. Bowler Strikes Back to Win Title : U.S. Women’s Open: Prohibitive longshot Anne Marie Duggan of La Habra defeats prohibitive favorite.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY —  Anne Marie Duggan of La Habra ended Leanne Barrette’s runaway in the U.S. Women’s Bowling Open in the 60th and final game of the six-day marathon Thursday.

That’s when Duggan struck and then spared at Fountain Bowl to win the title “I’d always dreamed of was mine.” She also received the $16,000 first prize in the $100,000 tournament.

Duggan won the most prestigious title in women’s bowling--and the traditional green blazer--with a 196-185 victory.

The low-scoring title match was surprising. Duggan had earned the right to meet Barrette for the title with three strike-filled games. And Barrette had averaged 231 on Lanes 51 and 52 (the two used for the final). Her 56-game total leading to the finals was a tournament record 12,913, 437 pins ahead of the field.

So the Oklahoma City bowler was a prohibitive favorite and Duggan, seeded No. 5, a prohibitive longshot in the stepladder competition.

Both players said they had a bad case of nerves in the showdown.

They started the match for the championship with open frames. Neither could muster strike strings.

When Barrette opened on a split in the ninth frame, Duggan needed only a mark in the 10th. She got it.

“I was very nervous meeting Leanne,” Duggan said. “Neither of us were getting strikes. Leanne is such a great bowler. I kept telling myself to hold on, take deep breaths before shots. Somehow, I survived.”

“I’d had a good warm-up, but the condition of the left lane had changed when it came to bowl,” Barrette said. “It put me way off. I never recovered.”

Duggan, 28, has been a winner on the Ladies Pro Bowlers Tour since 1983, three years after graduating from Kennedy High School as Anne Marie Pike of Cypress.

She immediately made a big hit as a pro.

Duggan won her first pro event on the tour at Houston to become the first and only LPBT player to triumph in a first tournament. It helped her earn the tour’s Rookie of the Year award.

This was Duggan’s fourth pro title in eight years.

Now coached by husband Pat, Duggan was a star in junior bowling before turning to adult competition.

She was 1981 Southern California Junior Bowler of the Year and made the all-area junior teams three times.

As an adult player, she was voted Southern California Woman Bowler of the Year in 1984.

In the first match of the finals, Duggan started off with four strikes. Cheryl McDaniels of Detroit never caught up and wound up losing, 219-195.

In all, Duggan collected nine strikes against McDaniels, her high for the day.

Duggan next faced Sandra Jo Shiery of Coldwater, Mich. After both opened with splits and were tied at 48 after three frames, Duggan rolled seven strikes in a row to advance up the ladder, 247-235.

Jeanne Maiden of Tacoma doubled for an early lead in the third match after Duggan had opened in the first frame.

But Duggan’s strike ball hadn’t deserted her.

She reeled off six strikes in a row. However, she still had work to do. When Maiden struck out for a 236, Duggan needed to mark out in the 10th frame--and she did with a strike and a spare for a 244 winner.