Women's Golf | April 17, 2019

The No. 1 USC women's golf team completed a dominating wire-to-wire performance that saw four players finish in the top 7 as the Trojans won the 2019 Pac-12 Championships by 11 strokes at the Palos Verdes G.C. on Wednesday (April 17).
 
USC won at 1-under 851 (283-286-282) for its first Pac-12 win since 2016 and duplicating its 2008 effort when the Trojans also won the conference trophy while hosting at the same course.
 
Arizona finished second at 10-over 862 while Arizona State was third at 15-over 867, both overtaking Stanford in the final round as the Cardinal took fourth at 16-over 868. Arizona State's Olivia Mehaffey won a one-hole playoff against Stanford's Albane Valenzuela for the medalist honor after the duo tied for first at 4-under 209.
 
The Trojans, whose final-round 282 tied its second-best effort ever at the challenging course, started the final round with a seven-stroke lead and maintained at least a six-stroke edge for the entire final round, replicating their steady play from the first and second days.
 
USC's 11-stroke win is its fourth double-digit victory among its seven conference titles.
 
"The girls did a great job managing their games today. They had really consistent iron play and had really good speed on the greens. We made tons of pars which is what we wanted. It was just a really good team effort," USC first-year head coach Justin Silverstein said.
 
"We had a good game plan entering the week and they followed it. I give them a lot of credit. A lot of times here you can get frustrated and buck your plan and go a different route. But they didn't and stuck to it and executed really well."
 
Sophomore Gabriela Ruffels led USC's quartet of top 7 finishers at 3-under 210 (70-72-68), closing with her best round since Nov. 6 to finish one shot out of first. She was 1-over thru 9 but closed with a 4-under back 9 with five birdies for her fifth top 8 finish this year.
 
"I knew I had to stay patient today," Ruffels said. "I was 1-over on the front and I knew there were opportunities on the back. I stayed patient and had four birdies on the back. I was happy with my play."
 
Junior Allisen Corpuz took fifth at par 213 (73-69-71) for her second straight top 7 effort. She was 1-under at the turn and 1-over on the back with three birdies on the day.
 
Sophomore Jennifer Chang took sixth at 1-over 214 (71-71-72) for her seventh top 9 of the season, posting birdies on 16 and 17 among three birdies today.
 
Sophomore Alyaa Abdulghany finished seventh at 2-over 215 (70-74-71), her fourth top 7 of the season. She doubled 6 and 8, but responded with four straight birdies between 9 and 12 with another on 14 en route to a 3-under back 9.
 
"It was absolutely amazing. I'm so proud of the girls, coming through on such a tough course," Abdulghany said. "I can't believe we did it. It was a tough run, but we managed to stay steady for all three days."
 
Freshman Malia Nam rounded out USC's efforts, tying for 22^nd at 9-over 222 (72-77-73). She had three birdies in her final round.