Southern Illinois University
UIC Fall Invitational
Southern wins UIC Fall Invitational behind Netisingha's tournament win
09/19/2015 | 12:00:00 | Women's Golf
Team Results
Individual Results
LEMONT, Ill. - Saluki women's golf opened up a busy weekend in impressive fashion, winning the UIC Fall Shootout on Saturday in Lemont, Ill., with Hanna Netisingha carding a 73, one stroke above par, to win her first-career tournament as a Saluki and take home medalist honors. Brooke Cusumano finished as the runner-up behind Netisingha.
The win is the first for SIU this season and 13th overall under head coach Alexis Mihelich. With Netisingha's win, she becomes the 12th medalist for Mihelich, while Cusumano is the seventh runner-up that Mihelich has coached.
"I'm thrilled for Hanna and her win today," Mihelich said. "Talk about a player that never stops improving. This felt like a home tournament for her since she played Cog Hill in junior and summer golf for a long time. She had her parents watching and her high school coach came out. There wasn't a more perfect venue and gallery than this one for her today. Brooke is so steady for us. To finish medalist last week and now runner-up in back-to-back tournaments means her game has arrived and she's hitting her stride."
Southern won the tournament after shooting 301, six strokes better than Bradley. The Salukis placed four golfers in the top-10, led by Netisingha's 73. The 73 tied a career-best round for the Carol Stream, Ill., native. Right behind Netisingha was Cusumano, ending the day with a 74 and a runner-up finish. Mattie Lindner and Kristie Yang each shot 77, sharing a tie for eighth-place. Sun Young Jung rounded out the team scoring for SIU, shooting an 80 to tie for 17th place. Alice Ho competed as an individual for Southern, earning a tie for 22nd place with her score of 81.
"Even though the field was only six teams, they were really good, especially our conference rival Bradley," Mihelich said. "At Illinois State they took home team and individual runner-up honors and boasted the 2015 MVC Player of the Year. So to bounce back and get them this week confirms that we are a solid team. It was an all-around effort and everyone contributed today. What I'm most happy with is the maturity Xianmei Jin showed today. Her back was hurting her and she wanted to step down from the line-up and play as an individual. We literally had a last minute line-up close to tee off. It was a good decision because she ended up withdrawing, and we didn't have to play a golfer down. Mattie was slated to play as individual and she came right in and counted for us."
With the win, SIU heads into the Loyola Fall Invitational with plenty of momentum and confidence. The tournament will be contest over two days (Sept. 21-22) at the Flossmoor Country Club in Flossmoor, Ill. The tournament's opening day will see the competing teams play 36 holes, with 18 holes to be played on the final day. Both days will begin with 8:30 a.m. shotgun starts.
"This win gives us the momentum we need for Loyola on Monday and Tuesday," Mihelich said. "We want to keep it going for as long as we can. We know that we can do it and every player on the team can contribute."
SIU Team Results
1. Hanna Netisingha 73
2. Brooke Cusumano 74
T8. Mattie Lindner 77
T8. Kristie Yang 77
T17. Sun Young Jung 80
SIU Individual
T22. Alice Ho 81
Overall Team Results
1. Southern Illinois 301
2. Bradley 307
3. Chicago State 313
4. Wisconsin-Green Bay 326
5. Detroit 327
6. Illinois-Chicago 332
Players Mentioned
