LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Penn State women's golf team finished third at the 30th annual Bettie Lou Evans Invitational at the University of Kentucky's Big Blue Course following a final round 7-over (295) on Sunday morning.
Penn State finished the tournament 11-over (875) while Rutgers used a tournament low 7-under (281) final round to jump four spots and finish second at 10-over (874). The host Wildcats led from start-to-finish securing the title for the second-consecutive season with a 5-under (859) total. Western Kentucky (13-over) and Middle Tennessee (20-over) rounded out the top five.
"We just couldn't put it all together today, but I believe we will learn from this as we continue to figure out our best team to put out there," commented head coach Denise St. Pierre. "Sometimes it takes a few near misses to really strengthen a team."
Sophomore Sarah Willis (Eaton, Ohio) finished a very strong weekend with a 1-under (71) final round moving up three spots finishing the tournament tied for second at 3-under (213). Her 3-under total ties for the fourth lowest 54-hole score in program history.
Freshman Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) carded a 2-over (74) final round falling a few spots ending the tournament tied for eighth at 1-under (215). The rookie's 215 total ties for the ninth lowest 54-hole total in school history.
Junior Olivia Zambruno (Mt. Pleasant, Pa.) tied for 22nd at 8-over (224) moving up seven spots on the day with a 1-over (73) final round. Senior classmates Megan McLean (Lebanon, N.J.) and Maddy Herr (New Hope, Pa.) rounded out the team scores at 5-over and 6-over, respectively. McLean finished the tournament tied for 29th while Herr came in 52nd.
Playing as an individual, senior Ashni Dhruva (Katy, Texas) made a 12-spot leap on the final day with her best round of the weekend carding 1-over (73) to finish the weekend tied for 53rd at 15-over (231).
The Nittany Lions had 16 birdies on Sunday giving them 38 for the week.
Penn State will take over three weeks off from competition before concluding the 2019 fall season at the Landfall Tradition on October 25-27.