NCAA Women's Golf Championships: Washington wins thriller, will face Stanford in final
Stanford defeated Duke 3-2 on Tuesday to advance to the NCAA final for the second straight year. Mariah Stackhouse gave the Cardinal an early lead, winning four of the first eight holes en route to a 3 and 2 victory in the semifinal round of the match play format.
Sierra Kersten took the lead on the third hole and never looked back finishing with a commanding 4 and 2 win over the Blue Devils' Celine Boutier. Casey Danielson carded a clutch par on the 17th to take a one hole lead, then proceeded to halve the final hole to clinch the match for Stanford. The Cardinal will look to defeat Washington on Wednesday in its quest to defend its NCAA title.
On to the final! Casey earns third point with par at 18. #GoStanford #NCAAGolf
— Stanford WGolf (@StanfordWGolf) May 25, 2016
Earlier in the day Stanford defeated South Carolina 3-2 in its quarterfinal matchup. Lauren Kim jumped out to a quick lead over Isadora Nilsson and went on to a 6 and 5 win. Danielson defeated Sarah Schmelzel (4 & 3) and Stackhouse finished two up on Marion Veysseyre to close out the match.
Team excited but has tall task against Duke. #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/XMhxqAEVGk
— Stanford WGolf (@StanfordWGolf) May 24, 2016
In the other semifinal matchup, Washington beat UCLA 3-1-1 in an absolute thriller. Down three holes going to the 16th, freshman Sarah Rhee won the final three holes to force a playoff with UCLA's Louise Ridderstrom. Rhee chipped in from a bunker for a birdie on the playoff hole to clinch the victory for Washington.
Julianne Alvarez took a late lead on the 16th and Wenyung Keh went ahead on the 17th just minutes earlier (both went on to win) to set the stage for Rhee's big moment. Washington will face the defending champs for an all Pac-12 NCAA final.
#SCTop10 worthy? ABSOLUTELY https://t.co/RuuOFriN8j
— UW Women's Golf (@UW_WGolf) May 25, 2016
In their morning matchup Huskies defeated Virginia 3-1-1 to become the third Pac-12 team to advance to the NCAA Championship Semifinals. Wenyung Keh and Charlotte Thomas had the biggest victories of the morning for Washington, winning 4 & 2 and 4 & 3 respectively.
Here's what a national semifinals women's golf team looks like - Dawgs face UCLA this afternoon pic.twitter.com/y3hMQuaI2s
— UW Women's Golf (@UW_WGolf) May 24, 2016
UCLA matched up against Oregon in the quarterfinals, and the Bruins came away with a dominant 4-0-1 victory. Bronte Law (5 & 4), Bethany Wu (5 & 3), Louise Ridderstrom (4 & 3) and Lilia Vu (1 up) all won their rounds for the Bruins.
A recap and some highlights of our win over Oregon in the quarters. Semis start in an hour at 2:20 p.m.https://t.co/jgOtnkyKuc
— UCLA Women's Golf (@UCLAWomensGolf) May 24, 2016
In match two of Tuesday morning's quarterfinals, USC fell to Duke 4-1-0. Karen Chung was the only Trojan to come away with a victory, defeating Leona Maguire by a score of 4 and 2.