Lady Bulldogs Finish Season In 12th Place At NCAA East Regional
CLEMMONS, N.C. -- Mississippi State finishes the 2002-03 season with a 12th place finish in the NCAA East Regional at the Salem Glen Country Club. The Lady Bulldogs fired a 297 on the final day of the regional to conclude with a tournament score of 905. The 12th place finish is the highest ever for any Lady Linkster team.
"The team had a good showing. It is the best we have played the entire spring," Mississippi State head coach Christi Sanders said. "It is the best we've played in postseason play. I was proud of improvement we had every day. We played well and beat a lot of team ranked higher than us."
Sofie Andersson, Beth Irwin, and Anna Knutsson led the Lady Bulldogs finishing in a multiple tie for 44th. Andersson fired 74 in the final round, as Knutsson shot a 75. Irwin rounded out the three Lady Linksters with a 76 in the final round. Teammate Natalie Booth fired a 72, in the final day, to move up to a for 75th and a tournament score of 232. Janet Dyer finished out State with a 76 in the final round and a tournament score of 235.
Defending national champion, Duke finished a top of the team standings. The Lady Blue Devils fired a final round 283 to give them a tournament score of 857. SEC foes, Georgia and Vandebilt, finished in a tie for second, eight strokes behind Duke. SEC champion, Auburn finished the tournament at fourth, just two strokes back of Georgia and Vanderbilt.
Furman's Brandi Jackson was the medalist. Jackson fired a, 5 under par, 66 to claim the top honor with a tournament score of 205. South Carolina's Kristy McPherson, finished in second, four strokes back of Jackson. McPherson fired a 70 in the final round. North Carolina's Francella fired a final round 73 to finish six strokes back of first.
This concludes the 2002-03 season for Mississippi State and senior Anna Knutsson.
1 Duke 288-286-283=857 12 Mississippi State 306-302-297=905 2 Vanderbilt 295-288-282=865 t44 Sofie Andersson 75-77-74=226 3 Georgia 294-290-281=865 t44 Beth Irwin 75-75-76=226 4 Auburn 298-291-278=867 t44 Anna Knutsson 77-74-75=226 5 Arizona 303-288-283=874 t75 Natalie Booth 84-76-72=232 6 North Carolina 301-287-294=882 t85 Janet Dyer 79-80-76=235 7 South Carolina 303-287-294=884 8 Florida State 290-302-297=889 9 Furman 307-293-293=893 10 Wake Forest 307-293-294=894 11 Tulane 309-293-293=895 12 Mississippi St. 306-302-297=905 13 Penn State 305-306-296=907 T14 East Carolina 300-310-298=908 T14 N.C. State 303-306-299=908 16 W. Carolina 306-307-300=913 17 N.C. Wil. 307-306-305=918 18 Georgia State 306-307-306=919 19 Mississippi 322-302-296=920 20 South Florida 312-304-306=922 21 St. Francis-PA 335-320-326=981