May 26, 2007

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -

The Wake Forest women's golf team concluded the 2007 NCAA Women's Golf Championships with a 12th-place finish at the par-72, 6,351-yard LPGA International Legends Course. The 17th-ranked Demon Deacons shot a 17-over 305 for a four-day, 72-hole score of 65-over 1,217.

The Blue Devils built on their eight-stroke lead after the third round and posted the best team score, a two-over 290 to finish at 18-over 1,170 for the tournament, placing 15 shots ahead of Purdue, which had its highest finish in the NCAA Championships at second. UCLA took third with a 34-over 1186.

Duke became just the second program in NCAA history to win three consecutive titles - Arizona State did it from 1993-1995.

Only two teams ranked lower than Wake Forest placed ahead of the Demon Deacons. Louisville, ranked 31st, took 10th place, while TCU, ranked 18th, finished 11th. The Deacs finished four strokes ahead of second-ranked Arizona State and nine strokes ahead of ninth-ranked Oklahoma State.

Despite the wet and windy weather, senior Mandy Goins enjoyed a career best NCAA tournament score and showed solid tournament performance, her last as a Demon Deacon. Goins, along with sophomore Jean Chua, paced the Deacs on the final day as they both shot a 3-over 75. Goins tied for 21st with a 12-over 300, which is the best showing for the Frankfort, Ky. native. She recorded four bogies before she shot a birdie on the back nine to improve to 3-over par. But on the next hole she returned to 4-over after hitting another bogie. The senior saved one birdie for last as she helped the Deacs' score hitting the birdie on her final hole.

Chua tied for 40th with a 16-over 304. She struggled on the front nine hitting three straight bogies after hitting a double-bogey a few shots earlier. Beginning the back nine 5-over par, Chua birdied two holes to improve to 3-over and held on for the remaining three holes.

Sophomore standout Nannette Hill turned in a 14-over 302 to tie for 30th place after shooting a 5-over 77 for the final round.  

Senior Maggie Simons shot her best round of the tournament and turned in a 6-over 78 for a tournament score of 38-over 326, while junior Laura Crawford finished with a 25-over 313 after shooting an 8-over 80 for the final round.

Arkansas' Stacy Lewis claimed the individual title after shooting the low round of the tournament and equaled her career-best 18-hole score with a 6-under 66 and finished with a four-day total of 6-under 282, four strokes ahead of USC's Paola Moreno.

Wake Forest Results

12   Wake Forest +65 306-300-306-305=1217

T21   Mandy Goins  +12 76-75-74-75=300 

T30   Nannette Hill  +14 75-76-74-77=302 

T40   Jean Chua  +16 76-74-79-75=304 

T81   Laura Crawford  +25 79-75-79-80=313 

T110   Maggie Simons  +38 87-80-81-78=326 

Team Results

1 Duke 300 287 293 290 1170 +18

2 Purdue 303 294 291 297 1185 +33

3 UCLA 303 291 299 293 1186 +34

4 Southern California 295 306 304 291 1196 +44

5 Stanford 299 300 304 294 1197 +45

6 Vanderbilt 303 302 298 297 1200 +48

7 Pepperdine 306 299 300 297 1202 +50

8 Georgia 303 299 300 303 1205 +53

9 Auburn 309 304 300 300 1213 +61

10 Louisville, Univ. of 297 306 307 304 1214 +62

11 TCU 307 299 300 309 1215 +63

12 Wake Forest 306 300 306 305 1217 +65

13 Arizona State 307 298 311 305 1221 +69

T14 Oklahoma State 312 299 310 305 1226 +74

T14 Arizona 304 314 298 310 1226 +74

16 Michigan State 310 307 312 303 1232 +80

T17 Tennessee 311 313 308 304 1236 +84

T17 Brigham Young Univ. 309 306 315 306 1236 +84

19 UC Irvine 303 314 316 308 1241 +89

20 Denver, Univ. of 302 324 311 307 1244 +92

21 North Carolina 297 321 311 319 1248 +96

22 New Mexico 305 314 320 315 1254 +102

23 Alabama, U. of 314 319 319 311 1263 +111

24 Indiana University 320 318 323 310 1271 +119