Tuesday, May 22
Stillwater, Okla.
11:30 AM
USC
vs
Alabama
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
Jennifer Chang, Allisen Corpuz, Amelia Garvey, Alyaa Abdulghany and Gabi Ruffels after reaching the NCAA Championships semifinals.
No. 5 USC's Fantastic NCAA Championships Run Ends In Semifinals To Top-Ranked Alabama
May 22, 2018 | Women's Golf, Features
Trojans fall 3-1-1 to Crimson Tide.
The No. 5 USC women's golf team's amazing run that saw a spring starting lineup of four freshmen and a sophomore gel into a national title contender came to an end with a 3-1-1 loss to top-ranked Alabama in the NCAA Championships match play semifinals on Tuesday afternoon (May 22) at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla.
The Trojans, who won five teams on the year, including three with the spring lineup, defeated Duke, 3-1-1, in the quarterfinals this morning to earn the program's second straight semifinal berth and third overall in the four years the NCAA Championships have been determined in this format.
USC finished third in stroke play to earn its fourth match play berth, one of only two teams to do so. The Trojans' also finished in the top 5 for an NCAA-record 13 straight years and wrapped up the season with seven consecutive top 3 finishes.
"Obviously, for our program it's been an incredible spring season," USC's 22nd-year head coach Andrea Gaston said. "We started fresh with new faces. We knew that it would be a little bit of rebuilding. But there's a reason we recruit the players we do and I'm extremely proud of the accomplishments this season and we just kept getting better as the year went on. They bought into what we were doing and never made excuses."
The young Trojans ran into a veteran Alabama squad that featured three first-team All-Americans and the trio all posted points against USC.
Freshman Jennifer Chang, who led USC in stroke play this week with a tie for 13th, faced two first-team All-Americans today. After falling in a tight match vs. Duke's Leona Maguire, she dropped another close one, 2&1, to the Crimson Tide's Lauren Stephenson. She extended the match with a birdie on 16 before falling on 17.
Freshman Amelia Garvey, who clinched USC's win over the Blue Devils, battled Alabama All-American Kristen Gillman and pulled to within two holes thru 15 before falling 3&1.
Sophomore Allisen Corpuz, who went three extra holes in her quarterfinal match, was locked in a battle against Crimson Tide All-American Cheyenne Knight. She got to within a hole on 14, but couldn't close the gap any more, eventually conceding her point and the match on 17, losing 3&1.
Freshman Alyaa Abdulghany finished 1up through 16 holes when play was called, leading Lakareber Abe down the stretch while freshman Gabi Ruffels was square with Angelica Moresco, also thru 16.
"As a coach for 22 years, I've never had such a young team," Gaston said. "It was great to see them buy in and they proved themselves here. I don't think anybody believed we would be here. We far surpassed what anybody else thought, but we believed in this group."
The Trojans, who won five teams on the year, including three with the spring lineup, defeated Duke, 3-1-1, in the quarterfinals this morning to earn the program's second straight semifinal berth and third overall in the four years the NCAA Championships have been determined in this format.
USC finished third in stroke play to earn its fourth match play berth, one of only two teams to do so. The Trojans' also finished in the top 5 for an NCAA-record 13 straight years and wrapped up the season with seven consecutive top 3 finishes.
"Obviously, for our program it's been an incredible spring season," USC's 22nd-year head coach Andrea Gaston said. "We started fresh with new faces. We knew that it would be a little bit of rebuilding. But there's a reason we recruit the players we do and I'm extremely proud of the accomplishments this season and we just kept getting better as the year went on. They bought into what we were doing and never made excuses."
The young Trojans ran into a veteran Alabama squad that featured three first-team All-Americans and the trio all posted points against USC.
Freshman Jennifer Chang, who led USC in stroke play this week with a tie for 13th, faced two first-team All-Americans today. After falling in a tight match vs. Duke's Leona Maguire, she dropped another close one, 2&1, to the Crimson Tide's Lauren Stephenson. She extended the match with a birdie on 16 before falling on 17.
Freshman Amelia Garvey, who clinched USC's win over the Blue Devils, battled Alabama All-American Kristen Gillman and pulled to within two holes thru 15 before falling 3&1.
Sophomore Allisen Corpuz, who went three extra holes in her quarterfinal match, was locked in a battle against Crimson Tide All-American Cheyenne Knight. She got to within a hole on 14, but couldn't close the gap any more, eventually conceding her point and the match on 17, losing 3&1.
Freshman Alyaa Abdulghany finished 1up through 16 holes when play was called, leading Lakareber Abe down the stretch while freshman Gabi Ruffels was square with Angelica Moresco, also thru 16.
"As a coach for 22 years, I've never had such a young team," Gaston said. "It was great to see them buy in and they proved themselves here. I don't think anybody believed we would be here. We far surpassed what anybody else thought, but we believed in this group."
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