March 11, 2012

The Missouri State women's golf team finished second Sunday (Mar. 11) at the Rio Verde Invitational in Rio Verde, Ariz. The Bears shot their best round of the tournament, 295, but came up three strokes short as Kansas rallied from fourth place with a final-round 291 to claim the title by three strokes.

The Jayhawks carded 312-297-291--900 for 54 holes, while MSU checked in with 306-302-295--903. Akron, which led after the first two rounds, dropped to third in the 16-team field, finishing with 305-298-303--906. Penn State finished fourth with 911, followed by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (919), Eastern Michigan (920), Western Michigan (926), Arkansas-Little Rock (935), Ball State (939), Northern Arizona (945), Toledo (946), Xavier (947), Wichita State (950), Yale (956), Ohio (967) and Bradley (970).

Senior Kelsey Welber led the way for the Bears, firing 75-71-75--221 to place third overall, two shots behind medalist Kristen Hill of Akron and one behind Katy Nugent of Kansas.

Junior Emma Clegg finished second for MSU and 13th overall with 77-77-73--227, while senior Catherine Dolan tied for 14th by posting 76-79-73--228. Junior Hermine Greyling was another shot back with 78-77-74--229, tied for 18th, and freshman Megan Thompson carded 80-77-79--236 to place 38th.

Up next for the Bears is the Monterey Bay Invitational next Sunday-Tuesday (Mar. 18-20), which they'll co-host with Drake in Monterey, Calif.