LSU Gold

Women's Golf Earns 7th Seed in NCAA West Region

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Women's Golf Earns 7th Seed in NCAA West Region

BATON ROUGE — For the 16th time in the last 18 years, the LSU women’s golf team was selected for a spot in the NCAA Regional Tournaments that will advance teams to the NCAA Division I Championship Tournament.

LSU was seeded seventh in the 24-team West Regional to be held May 6-8 at the Stanford Golf Course on the University of Stanford campus.

There are three regional sites including at Stanford with 24 teams assigned to each regional. The top eight teams from each regional earn an invite to the NCAA Division I Championships set for The Landfall course in Wilmington, N.C., May 18-21.

The No. 1 seed in the West regional is the No. 1 team in the Golfstat Performance rankings, UCLA, with SEC Champion Alabama (6th-ranked in Golfstat), the No. 2 seed. Arizona (7) is seeded third, followed by Ohio State (12), Virginia (13) and Stanford (15) rounding out the top six ahead of LSU, which is ranked 19th in the country.

The remainder of the field, starting with the eighth seed and their Golfstat rankings are: California (24), Texas A&M (25), Texas (29), UC-Davis (31), Arkansas (35), UNLV (37), San Jose State (45), San Francisco (41), Idaho (51), UC-Irvine (39), Iowa State (56), Maryland (57), Colorado State (61), Oral Roberts (65), Texas State (90), Pennsylvania (112) and Portland State (172).

“We are excited to go West again,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen, who was thinking her team might go East to Greenville, S.C., or to the Central Regional in Columbus, Ind. “Surprised, but excited.  The girls are excited about it. I think we feel comfortable with that.”

Last year in the West Regional at Tempe, Ariz., LSU finished third and easily advanced to the NCAA Championships where the Lady Tigers finished 12th.

The par-71 Stanford course was designed in 1930 by William Bell and George Thomas, Jr., and is located in the foothills above the Stanford campus and has hosted numerous Pac-10 and NCAA championships and a former Champions Tour event, The Gathering at the Farm.

“It’s a really great golf course. I have been there before,” said Bahnsen. “I like it a lot. It’s also a site where we will play next season in the Pac-10-SEC Challenge tournament so we are excited that the girls are going to play the course before that.”

Bahnsen also announced that her lineup for the event will be Megan McChrystal, Tessa Teachman, Jacqueline Hedwall and Amalie Valle with junior Nicole Crochet from Harahan, La., stepping into the lineup for freshman Mary Michael Maggio. Maggio, who played in the last two events, is continuing to work her way back from shoulder surgery between the fall and spring semesters.

“Nicole is an upper classman and she is ready for the challenge. She is excited about the opportunity and we have a lot of confidence in her that she can do it,” Bahnsen said.

Duke is the No. 1 seed in the East regional that includes SEC teams Auburn (No. 2 seed), Vandy (6), Florida (7) and South Carolina (10). The Tulane Green Wave, winner of a couple of events this year, also advanced to regional play and is the 11th seed in the East. In the Central regional, Arizona State is the No. 1 seed, with SEC teams Georgia (5) and Ole Miss (15).

In all, 10 SEC women’s golf teams advanced to regional play.

WEST REGIONAL – Stanford Golf Course, Stanford, Calif.

Teams:
1. UCLA
2. Alabama (Southeastern Conference)
3. Arizona (Pacific-10 Conference)
4. Ohio State
5. Virginia
6. Stanford
7. LSU
8. California
9. Texas A&M (Big 12 Conference)
10. Texas
11. UC Davis (Big West Conference)
12. Arkansas
13. UNLV
14. San Jose State (Western Athletic Conference)
15. San Francisco
16. Idaho
17. UC Irvine
18. Iowa State
19. Maryland
20. Colorado State
21. Oral Roberts (The Summit League)
22. Texas State (Southland Conference)
23. Pennsylvania (Ivy Group)
24. Portland State (Big Sky Conference)

Individuals:
1.      Amy Anderson, North Dakota State
2.      Teresa Puga, Minnesota
3.      Ellen Mueller, Oklahoma

EAST REGIONAL – Ironhorse Golf Club, Greenville, S.C.

Teams:
1. Duke
2. Auburn
3. Wake Forest (Atlantic Coast Conference)
4. Pepperdine
5. Vanderbilt
6. Tennessee
7. Florida
8. TCU
9. North Carolina
10. South Carolina
11. Tulane (Conference USA)
12. Chattanooga (Southern Conference)
13. Washington
14. Texas Tech
15. Georgia State (Colonial Athletic Conference)
16. Campbell
17. East Tennessee State
18. Furman
19. Coastal Carolina
20. East Carolina
21. College of Charleston
22. Stetson (Atlantic Sun Conference)
23. Charleston Southern (Big South Conference)
24. Farleigh Dickinson (Northeast Conference)

Individuals:
1. Sofia Hagsund, North Carolina-Wilmington
2. Shana Young, South Florida
3. Nicole Sakamoto, James Madison

CENTRAL REGIONAL – Otter Creek Golf Course, Columbus, Ind.

Teams:
1. Arizona State
2. Southern California
3. Purdue (Big Ten Conference)
4. Michigan State
5. Georgia
6. Denver (Sun Belt Conference)
7. New Mexico (Mountain West Conference)
8. Florida State
9. Oklahoma State
10. Louisville (Big East Conference)
11. Oregon
12. Kent State (Mid-American Conference)
13. Northwestern
14. Notre Dame
15. Mississippi
16. San Diego State
17. Baylor
18. Tulsa
19. North Carolina State
20. Indiana
21. Illinois State (Missouri Valley Conference)
22. Murray State (Ohio Valley Conference)
23. Detroit (Horizon League)
24. Jackson State (Southwestern Athletic Conference)

Individuals:
1.      Ashley Bauer, Michigan
2.      Lansing Olivia, Drake
3.      Julia Potter, Missouri