VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Penn State women's golf team slid a bit in the final round of the Evie Odom Invitational on Sunday morning, but still managed a top-5 finish following a 3-over, 283. The Nittany Lions finished fifth in the 15-team field with a score of 857 (17-over) for the week.
The College of Charleston held off the charging Gophers of Minnesota by two strokes to capture the championship with a three-round total of 843 (3-over). Minnesota climbed six spots over the course of the final round for its runner-up finish after posting an eye-popping tournament record of 17-under, 263, on Sunday led by course record 8-under, 62, by Mariana Mesones.
South Florida (12-over) and Sacramento State (13-over) finished just ahead of Penn State to round out the top-5.
Senior Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) started fast with back-to-back birdies to open her round en route to an even-par, 70, on Sunday morning and a sixth-place finish in the 81-player field. Delavallade was 2-under for the week finishing seven shots back of the College of Charleston's Emma Schimpf who took home individual medalist honors.
Senior classmates Isha Dhruva (Katy, Texas) and Sarah Willis (Eaton, Ohio) each carded final round scores of 2-over, 72, and finished the week tied for 18th and 28th, respectively with scores of 5-over and 7-over.
Sophomore Michelle Cox (Allentown, Pa.) ended the week strong with her low round of the week firing a 1-under, 69, to move up nine spots as she finished the week 11-over. Cox started slow on Sunday with back-to-back bogeys on her second a third holes of the day, but turned things around going bogey-free the rest of the way with three birdies.
"I struggled with my positioning all day but did a good job of gritting out some good holes later in my round," commented Cox. "I started to really focus in on where I wanted to leave myself after the first few holes and my momentum carried me through the rest of the round."
Sophomore Drew Nienhaus (St. Louis, Mo.) rounded out the day with a 9-over, 79.
Penn State will have the next four weeks off before closing out its fall campaign at the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, North Carolina over Halloween Weekend.
Full results available HERE.
