Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's Golf to Open Play at MVC Championship
04/19/2002 | 12:00:00 | Women's Golf
April 19, 2002
Carbondale, Ill. - Southern Illinois will look to build on its six team titles this weekend when it competes at the 2002 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Golf Championship in Normal, Ill. The three-day event will run April 21-23.
Illinois State plays host to this year's league championship which takes place at the ISU Golf Course. Tee times for the tournament are at 9 a.m. each day.
Eight Valley schools sponsor women's golf, including Bradley, Creighton, Evansville, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, SIU, Southwest Missouri State and Wichita State. The winner of the Valley tournament earns an automatic bid into the NCAA Championship.
SIU (44 pts.) heads into the tournament favored to win after edging Northern Iowa (42 pts.) by two points in the Valley's Prechampionship Poll. The Salukis received three first-place nods in this year's voting, despite their fifth-place finish from a year ago.
The Dawgs, who last won a MVC Women's Golf Championship in 2000, head into the weekend tied with ISU for the most team titles. Of current league members, only SIU (6), ISU (6) and Wichita State (2) have won more than one women's golf crown.
The defending champion is Southwest Missouri State, which won the 2001 MVC Golf Championship at Quarry Oaks in Ashland, Neb. The Bears beat Illinois State by one stroke and Bradley by two in last year's tournament.
