NCAA women's golf: Stanford advances to final, eliminates USC
Following two match play victories Tuesday in Bradenton, Florida, the Stanford Cardinal is now one win away from a national championship.
Riding the hot hands of Lauren Kim (4 & 3), Shannon Aubert (4 & 2), and Casey Danielson (2 & 1), the Cardinal cooled-off number one seed USC, who entered the day fresh off a 5-stroke victory in stroke play. Despite an off day from Mariah Stackhouse, who lost 6 & 4 to Amy Lee, the Cardinal advanced, thanks to 18th-hole win by Quirine Eijkenboom, who squared her match against Karen Chung.
@StanfordWGolf Now we've got Any Way You Want It stuck in our heads. WELP.
— Pac-12 Networks (@Pac12Networks) May 26, 2015
Earlier in the day, Stanford had to take down another Pac-12 rival, Arizona, in the quarterfinals. Stackhouse (2 up) and Kim (2 & 1) led the way again for the Cardinal, notching victories over the Wildcats' Lindsey Weaver and Kendall Prince. However, it was Aubert’s nail-biting, 18th-hole win over Krystal Quihuis that sent Stanford over the top and into the Final Four.
With the pair of wins, the Cardinal will face the 3rd-seeded Baylor Bears on Wednesday, looking to claim its first national championship. The two teams will tee off at 11:10 a.m. PT.
Before the Trojans' defeat in the semis, Gabriella Then continued her hot week, sinking a par putt on 18 to send USC (3 & 2) to the semifinals with her 2 & 1 match play victory over Jennifer Yang of Washington. Along with Then, Karen Chung (3 & 1) and Annie Park (1 up) notched victories for the Trojans, who eventually fell short in their quest for a fourth national championship.
Facing Pac-12 rival Washington, USC capitalized on their number one seed entering match play, where, despite dominating individual victories from Charlotte Thomas (6 & 5) and Cyd Okino (5 & 4) of Washington, the Trojans depth once again came into play.