Tulane Leaps To 20th In Day Three Of NCAA Women's Golf Championship

Liliana Alvarez

Junior Liliana Alvarez fired an even-par 71 and the Green Wave shot a team-best 299 as the Tulane University women's golf team jumped two spots finish day three of the 2005 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship in sole possession of 20th place Thursday at the par-71, 6,321-yard Sunriver Resort.

The Green Wave sank six birdie putts for the day, including two each by Alvarez, senior Alexis Wooster and sophomore Alison Walshe. With one round left to play, Tulane is just one stroke behind 19th-placed Purdue (309-302-304=915) and 12 back of 15th-placed Michigan State (304-301-299=904).

"We played a lot better today," head coach Sue Bower said. "The team hasn't been in the Top 15 in the country all season because we're a bad team. We struggled with the wind all week, but we handled it a lot better on Thursday. We're a Top 10 team that dug too big of a whole early on, but if would finish in the Top 15, that would be a huge accomplishment for this team."

Alvarez, who shot a 12-over par 83 on Wednesday, answered the bell on Thursday to post the best round by a Tulane golfer so far in the NCAA Championship. With a three-day total of 230 (76-83-71), she headed to the clubhouse tied for 70th overall.

"This is why Lili's an All-American candidate," Bower said. "She could have put her head between her knees and said, `I can't play this tournament.' She played a very simple tournament today, kept the ball on the fairways, and made her putts. You've got to give her a lot of credit for bouncing back, and really the whole team did a good job of coming out today and playing very well."

The Green Wave's top scorer to date, however, is sophomore Alison Walshe, who fired a two-over par 73 in the third round, and is tied for 38th in the individual standings with a 12-over par 225 (74-78-73). Wooster had the team's third-best finish on Thursday with a 77, fellow senior Lindsay Hulwick was next with a 78 while sophomore Mary Ellen Jacobs carded an 82. Jacobs (76-73-82=231) enters the final round tied for 78th, Hulwick (79-80-78=237) is next at tied for 108th and Wooster (81-81-77=239) is currently tied for 115th.

Duke took the team lead in round three with a six-under par 278 to post bring its overall score to a 21-over par 873 (292-303-278), and the Blue Devils currently hold an eight-stroke over day-three runner-up Auburn (290296-295=881).

A large reason for Duke's resurgent third round was the performance of Anna Grzebien, who carded a six-under par 65 on Thursday to take the individual lead at even-par 213 (73-75-65). Grzebien holds a four-stroke advantage over teammate Brittany Lang (74-75-68) and UCLA's Charlotte Mayorkas (71-73-73), who both finish the third round with four-over par 217s.

The 24-team, six-individual field will conclude championship play with the final round on Friday with the first teams teeing off at 11:00 a.m. (CDT). Golf fans can follow all the action live on the internet at www.golfstat.com.

Team Scores: 1. Duke 292-303-278=873 (+21); 2. Auburn 290-296-295=881 (+29); 3. UCLA 288-302-292=882 (+30); 4. Pepperdine 291-295-299=885 (+33); 5. California 295-299-296=890 (+38); 6. Arkansas 296-307-293=896 (+44); 7. Ohio State 301-296-300=897 (+45); 8. Southern Cal 287-312-301=900 (+48); T9. Arizona State 303-301-297=901 (+49), Tennessee 300-303-298=901 (+49); T11. Florida 301-304-297=902 (+50), Washington 292-314-296=902 (+50); T13. Missouri 307-300-296=903 (+51), Oklahoma State 298-306-299=903 (+51); 15. Michigan State 304-301-299=904 (+52); 16. Virginia 304-308-295=907 (+55); 17. Stanford 300-311-298=909 (+57); 18. UC Irvine 311-304-297=912 (+60); 19. Purdue 309-302-304=915 (+63); 20. Tulane 305-312-299=916 (+64); 21. Furman 307-301-309=917 (+65); 22. Texas A&M 305-306-309=920 (+68); 23. Tulsa 307-313-310=930 (+78); 24. Brigham Young 305-317-316=938 (+86).

Top Individual Scores: 1. Anna Grzebien (Duke) 73-75-65=213 (E); T2. Brittany Lang (Duke) 74-75-68=217 (+4), Charlotte Mayorkas (UCLA) 71-73-73=217 (+4); T4. Nicole Hage (Auburn) 73-75-70=218 (+5), Carolina Llano (Pepperdine) 69-77-72=218 (+5), Dewi Schreefel (Southern Cal) 70-74-74=218 (+5), Brooke Shelton (LSU) 71-75-72=218 (+5), Leah Wigger (Virginia) 73-72-73=218 (+5).

Tulane Individual Scores: T38. Alison Walshe 74-78-73=225 (+12); T70. Liliana Alvarez 76-83-71=230 (+17); T78. Mary Ellen Jacobs 76-73-82=231 (+18); T108. Lindsay