Salukis grind out 2nd place finish at Ball State Sunshine Invitational

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Southern grinded out its best round of the week to finish the Ball State Sunshine Invitational in 2^nd place. It was the Salukis' sixth top-five finish of the 2016-17 season.

SIU shot a team-score of 314 in the closing round to hold off surges from Lamar and Eastern Kentucky, two teams ranked in the top-100 of the Golfstat Relative Rankings. Toledo won the event with a 12-stroke lead over the Salukis. SIU outperformed two other Missouri Valley Conference teams, Illinois State and Drake. The Salukis bested Illinois State by 32 strokes and Drake by 56.

Senior Kristie Yang, the most consistent Saluki of the tournament, finished in third place. She shot a 79 in the final round to secure her second-straight individual top-five finish.

"Kristie's ball-striking is spot on," Mihelich said. "Her game has been really strong since her win at Austin Peay. I know she will keep her play up for the rest of the semester."

Brooke Cusumano also finished in the top-10. She shot a 79 in the third round. Both players were crucial to SIU's performance all week.

Hanna Netisingha and Xianmei Jin bolstered the Salukis with bounce-back performances of their own. Netisingha led the tournament in the early stages. She shot a 78 in the closing round, her best score of the week, to rally for a top-20 finish. The junior from Carol Stream, Ill., was even par on the back nine today thanks to back-to-back birdies on holes 12 and 13.

"Hanna and Brooke grinded it out until the end of the tournament for us," Mihelich said.

Netisingha's 78 moved her into 15^th all-time at SIU with her 35^th round in the 70's. She passed Lisa Kartheiser who played at SIU from 1982-85.

Jin, who played in her first tournament since returning from a dislocated shoulder, had her best round of the tournament with a 78.

"Xianmei really came in today when we needed her the most," Mihelich said.

Southern performed the best on par-3s throughout the tournament. It shot an average of 3.32 strokes per par-3. Yang led the field in individual Par-5 scoring averaging 4.92 strokes per par-5. She also finished in a four-way tie for the tournament lead with seven birdies.

The Salukis' next tournament is in two weeks at the Islanders Classis in Corpus Christi, Texas, February 27-28.

Individual Results
3          Kristie Yang (2)           78        75        79        232
T9        Brooke Cusamano (1) 75        83        79        237
T18      Hanna Netisingha (4) 82        81        78        241
T35      Xianmei Jin (5)                        84        86        78        248
T39      Alice Ho (3)                 82        80        91        253
45        Sun Jung (Ind.)                        90        81        85        256

Team Results
1. Toledo                 316 314 308 938
2. Southern Illinois 317 319 314 950
3. Lamar                  337 312 304 953
4. Eastern Kentucky 313 338 312 963
5. Ball State              329 329 319 977
6. Keiser University 334 335 309 978
7. Illinois State        332 329 321 982
8. McNeese State      325 334 324 983
9. IUPUI                      340 335 324 1003
10. Drake                  349 328 329 1006
11. Valaparaiso          348 339 341 1028
12. Lipscomb              347 356 334 1037

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