TUCSON, Ariz. – Fifth-ranked Arizona women's golf has advanced to the inaugural opening round of match play at the NCAA Championships with its fifth-place finish in stroke play on Monday. Hosted by South Florida at The Concession Golf Club, over four rounds, the Wildcats shot 1,205 (+53).
“Our girls played well,” head coach Laura Ianello said. “We didn't get off to a get great start but it wasn't bad. Our girls hung in there. We were able to make some birdies down the stretch and we had a little cushion today but I didn't want the team to only focus on making the top eight. I wanted them to focus on beating Duke and USC. We struggled a little bit but we ended the day successfully and we were able to finish fifth.”
No. 1 USC was the top-placing team out of stroke play with a 1,192 (+40). No. 4 Duke finished second with a 1,197 (+45). No. 18 Baylor rounded out the top three with a 1,198 (+46). No. 5 Arizona finished fifth with a 1,205 (+53). Emma Talley of Alabama was the individual champion with a 285 (-3).
Junior Lindsey Weaver was Arizona's top finisher in a tie for 18th place and a score of 299 (+11). She carded daily rounds of 72, 78, 77 and 72. Freshman Krystal Quihuis finished in a tie for 25th and a score of 301 (+13). She collected rounds of 76, 77, 73 and 75.
Senior Kendall Prince finished tied for 34th with a score of 304 (+16). She shot daily rounds of 76, 80, 74 and 74. Sophomore Wanasa Zhou finished tied for 38th with a score of 305 (+17) and daily rounds of 77, 77, 70 and 81. Senior Manon Gidali rounded out the Arizona five in a tie for 73rd place and a score of 319 (+31). She carded daily scores of 76, 79, 85 and 79.
Fifth-seeded Arizona will face fourth-seeded Stanford at 7:50 a.m. on Tuesday for the opening round of match play. The Cats and the Cardinal will begin on hole No. 10. Golf Channel will air live tournament coverage of the match-play quarterfinals Tuesday beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET, followed by match-play semifinals at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Live scoring is available at golfstat.com. A complete recap and results will be available at ArizonaWildcats.com after each day of competition.
For continued coverage of Arizona women's golf, follow the team on Twitter @UAWomensGolf, at Facebook.com/ArizonaWomensGolf or visit ArizonaWildcats.com.
