Bulldogs Return To Oklahoma To Compete In NCAA Championship
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Making back-to-back trips to the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history, the Mississippi State women’s golf team is set to tee off as one of the final 24 teams remaining in the championship event.
The four-day, four-round event begins Tuesday at the par-70, 6,194-yard Tulsa Country Club. MSU secured its second consecutive trip to the championships with a third place finish in the NCAA Central Regional.
“I am incredibly proud with how much progress we have made,” Bulldogs head coach Ginger Brown-Lemm said. “The theme of last week, with the resilience they showed, will carry to this week. We are ready, and look forward to playing and competing for a national championship.”
The Bulldogs will be joined by Southeastern Conference foes No. 4 South Carolina, No. 8 Vanderbilt, No. 10 Alabama, No. 21 Florida, Texas A&M plus top-seeded No. 1 Southern California. Rounding out the prestigious tournament field will be No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Duke, No. 5 Arizona State, No. 6 Washington, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 11 Arizona, No. 12 Stanford, No. 15 Northwestern, No. 17 North Carolina State, No. 18 Virginia, No. 20 Michigan State, No. 22 Ohio State, No. 24 Iowa State, No. 25 California, Campbell, Kansas and Tulane.
Brown-Lemm takes an unchanged lineup to the final event, with All-SEC Ally McDonald leading the Maroon and White. McDonald enters the championship with a school record 71.74 season stroke average and six top-10 scorecards.
Making their first NCAA Championship appearances will be the freshman duo of Jessica Peng and Ji Eun Baik. All-Freshman selection Peng became the first Bulldog to notch 10 par or better rounds in their debut season with her even-par 72 second round in the regional.
Veterans Rica Tse and Mary Langdon Gallagher will make their second trip to the championship to complete the MSU lineup. Following the completion of the event, Gallagher will take sole possession of second place in the record books for most career rounds played at 120.
The Bulldogs tee off the opening round Tuesday at noon, paired up with No. 3 Duke and No. 5 Arizona State on hole 10.
Live stats and post-round results will be available through Hailstate.com and NCAA.com. Holes 16, 17 and 18 of rounds 3 and 4 will be streamed live through the NCAA website for the public to watch.
For more information on the team, follow the Mississippi State women’s golf Twitter account, @HailStateWG, and Facebook page, facebook.com/HailStateWG.
- HailState.com -