No. 1 USC Goes For Fourth Straight Win At Pac-12 Preview

USC women's golf team, ranked No. 1 for the first time since 2016 and riding a three-tournament winning streak in head coach Justin Silverstein's first season, is in paradise this week for the Pac-12 Preview, Monday through Wednesday (Nov. 5-7), in Kailua Kona, Hawaii.

The Trojans, who reached their second straight NCAA Championships semifinal appearance in May as well as the 13^th consecutive top 5 finish, are now under Silverstein's leadership after the former Trojan associate head coach took over for Andrea Gaston, USC's long-time coach who departed Troy during the off-season to become head coach at Texas A&M.

Silverstein, who served under Gaston for four years before spending the past two seasons as the associate head coach with the USC men's squad, helped lead the USC women to the 2013 NCAA crown as well as top 5 finishes the three following seasons.

The Trojan squad has acclimated quickly to the new leadership, winning its three October tournaments, most recently repeating as East Lake Cup champions last week in Atlanta. That followed a win at the Stanford Intercollegiate by a commanding 15-stroke margin that saw four Trojans finish in the top 10. USC started the streak with a win at the Windy City Collegiate by five strokes at the start of the month, which also saw sophomore Gabriela Ruffels capture her first career title at 10-under 206 (69-66-71).

USC now looks to complete the fall season with a win in Hawaii. The field includes Arizona, Arizona State, California, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State and host Hawaii.

For the third time in a row, the Trojans start sophomores Alyaa Abdulghany, Jennifer Chang, Amelia Garvey, Ruffels and freshman Malia Nam. Only Abdulghany played in the event last year among this year's starters as USC was only able to field a three-woman team for the event.

Ruffels, Chang, Abdulghany and Garvey as well as junior Allisen Corpuz were all starters on USC's squad last year that ultimately won five tournaments en route to a semifinal finish at the NCAAs, where it fell to eventual runner-up Alabama.

2018-19 Highlights
* USC's wins at the Windy City, Stanford Intercollegiate and East Lake Cup are the first three wins for new head coach Justin Silverstein. It is USC's first three-event win streak since also winning three straight in the spring. The Trojans won five times last season. The last time USC enjoyed a longer win streak was a four-tournament stretch in the spring of 2014.

* USC's first-round, 12-under 272 at the Stanford Intercollegiate is tied for the fourth-best round in program history. Only a 270 at the 2014 NCAAs and a pair of 271s at the 2015 ANNIKA Intercollegiate and the 2015 Arizona Wildcat Invitational have been better. The 272 ties USC's 2013 Stanford Intercollegiate best effort.

* Troy's 15-stroke win at Stanford was its biggest margin of victory since winning the Gold Rush at Old Ranch C.C. by 18 strokes in February of 2016.

* USC repeated as East Lake Cup champions with the same outcome as last year's final, a 3-2 win over Stanford. That followed a 4-1 win over defending NCAA champion Arizona in the semifinal and a second-place finish in the solo stroke play round to determine seeding. It is Troy's third title in the event's four-year history.

* Freshman Malia Nam leads USC in stroke average after 10 rounds at 70.30 while sophomore Jennifer Chang is at 71.00 and sophomore Gabriela Ruffels stands at 71.20. Those three are the only Trojans to play in all 10 rounds (plus two match play rounds) for the Trojans. Sophomore Alyaa Abdughany is fourth on the team at 71.57.

* Abdulghany and Ruffels each won both of their matches at East Lake. Abdulghany now stands at 6-2-1 in collegiate match play. Amelia Garvey is 5-2, Ruffels 5-1-1, Chang 3-4 and Nam 1-1. Chang may have had the toughest matchups, squared up against Duke's and Alabama's No. 1 players in last season's NCAA Championships, falling by one hole to each, in addition to falling to Stanford's No. 1 in the East Lake final.

* Ruffels posted her first collegiate victory at the Windy City Collegiate at 10-under 206 (69-66-71), one stroke better than the Sun Devils' Raquel Olmos. Tied after 11 holes, Ruffels went ahead by two strokes with a birdie on 12 while Olmos bogeyed the hole. Olmos pulled to within a stroke with a birdie on 15, but both players parred the final three holes, Ruffels clinching the win with a 4-foot putt. Her final round came on the heels of her 36-hole 9-under opening day, her second round 66 a personal best.

* Ruffels came through with the decisive point at the East Lake Cup, coming from behind to defeat Stanford All-American Andrea Lee, 2&1.

* Nam almost won her debut collegiate event, taking second at 12-under 204 (69-66-69) at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate. After starting her final round at 3-over through eight holes, she closed with six birdies over her final 12 holes, her last putt moving her to 12-under with a one-stroke lead. It took a Herculean effort by UCLA's Patty Tavatanakit to beat her. The Bruin, who started the day at 4-under, birdied seven holes in a row on the back nine and closed with an eagle on 18 to out-do Nam's impressive freshman start.

* Nam's 12-under tied her for the second-most under par performance in a 54-hole event in school history, one off the school mark on a 72-par course, and she is just one of five Trojans to post a 204 or lower. Only Irene Cho's 2006 13-under 203 has been better at USC. The last Trojan to post a 204 was then sophomore Karen Chung, who also did it at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate, though at Reunion Resort.

* Nam opened her career with four straight rounds in the 60s. Only four Trojans have had at least eight rounds under 70 in a season, and she already has five now after 10 rounds and has posted seven rounds of par or better. Nam has also started her career with four straight top 11 finishes, including a tie for third in the lone East Lake Cup round.

* Chang finished her freshman season with seven straight top 15 results and has extended the streak to 11 with a tie for ninth at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate at 6-under 210 (71-69-70), a tie for 11^th at the Windy City at par 216 (73-72-71), a tie for fifth at the Stanford Intercollegiate at 4-under 209 (69-71-69), and a tie for ninth at East Lake at 3-over 75.

* Abdulghany finished fourth at the Stanford Intercollegiate at 5-under 208 (67-71-70), her first round and 54-hole finish both collegiate bests.

* Garvey tied for eighth at the Stanford Intercollegiate at 3-under 210 (69-72-69). Her pair of 69s are her collegiate lows and her finish was a collegiate best over 54 holes.

2017-2018 Superlatives
Chang earned WGCA All-American second team honors as a freshman last year as well as All-Pac-12 first team honors, leading USC in stroke average (72.43, 17^th best in school history) after joining the team for the spring season. She closed the season with seven consecutive top 15 finishes, including one win at the Silverado Showdown and three other top six finishes.

Corpuz claimed WGCA All-American and All-Pac-12 honorable mention notice as a sophomore, finishing second on the squad in stroke average (73.00). Corpuz, whose four rounds in the 60s tied with Chang for most on the team, finished the season with four top 10 results, eight top 17 finishes, including a spring streak of six in a row, and finished tied for 27^th or better in 11 of 12 outings. She had 10 rounds under par and 14 rounds of par or better. Her 68 in the single stroke play round of the SDSU March Mayhem led the field.

Abdulghany also earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors and finished third on the team in stroke average (73.91), playing all 32 rounds on the season, as did Corpuz. Abdulghany posted a trio of top 10 finishes, seven in the top 19 and nine inside the top 30. She had five rounds under par on the season and nine of par or better.

Ruffels played 23 rounds as a freshman last year, posting a pair of top 7 finishes and three in the top 23. She joined Chang and Garvey with spring starts to their 2018 freshman seasons, all part of USC's postseason run.

Also back this season are juniors Divya Manthena and Leong, who both saw action last year. Manthena, in fact, was a starter on a pair of fall wins.

Nam, from Kailua, Hawaii, who will make her USC debut this week, is joined by two other freshman in Katherine Muzi from Walnut, Calif., and Georgia Carr, from Milltown, Ireland.

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Players Mentioned

Alyaa Abdulghany

Georgia Carr

Jennifer Chang

Allisen Corpuz

Amelia Garvey

Divya Manthena

Katherine Muzi

Malia Nam

Gabriela Ruffels