The Missouri State women’s golf team shot a final round 294 Tuesday to finish third at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship at Weaver Ridge Golf Course in Peoria, Ill. Senior Sally Hinton fired a one-under par 71 for the second straight day to overcome a rough opening round and finish in a fourth-place tie.
The Bears carded 309-309-294--912 (+48) for the meet and finished five strokes behind tournament runner-up Bradley and 13 strokes off the pace of Southern Illinois, which wrapped up the Valley team title with a final round 290. Illinois State (+84) came home fourth, while Wichita State (+92) shot a 302 on Tuesday to climb from ninth all the way to a fifth place finish. Northern Iowa (+94) finished sixth, followed by Evansville (+97), Indiana State (+105), Drake (+116) and Creighton (+135).
The team title was Southern Illinois’ first since 2000 and the seventh in the program’s history. The Salukis three-day total of 899 set an MVC tournament record.
Hinton, who was named MVC Golfer of the Year following the meet, shot 82-71-71--224 to match SIU’s Braidy Hood for fourth place, just five strokes behind individual medalist Bari-Lynn Erais of Bradley. BU’s Rikki Sobel (+6) finished three shots off Erais’s pace, while SIU’s Josie Lowder (+7) took home third-place honors. MSU sophomore Amy Phalaljivin joined Hinton as an all-conference pick and carded 76-79-73--228 to tie Indiana State’s Breanne Smith for sixth. Christine Zoerlein of SIU (+13) finished eighth, and fellow Saluki Kelly Gerlach (+15) tied Illinois State’s Stacey Miller for the tenth spot, just one stroke behind Bradley’s Whitney Cox.
Junior Lyndsey Adams (+16) finished 12th overall, while freshman Stacey Rodger (+17) came in 14th. Junior Missy Linnens (+23) and sophomore Lindsey Wellenstein (+24) also finished strong for the Bears, turning in final rounds of 76 and 77, respectively.
