Salukis finish fifth at the Battle at Boulder Creek

Monday, February 12

Boulder Creek, NV

All Day

Southern Illinois University

Battle at Boulder Creek

02/13/2018 | 5:52:00 | Women's Golf

By: Tony McDaniel, SIUSalukis.com

The Saluki women's golf team closed out the Battle at Boulder Creek in Boulder City, Nevada today in fifth place.

The Salukis held their position on the leaderboard after the close of the opening two rounds on Monday by shooting a team score of 309 in the closing round on Tuesday. Senior Hannah Netisingha and sophomore Erica Kerr led the way on the final day by shaving strokes off of their scores from day one.

Southern shot 309 in the final round to bring their three-round team score to 932. The Salukis were 18 strokes behind the tournament champions Toledo and were two strokes short of tying third-place Southern Utah. Northern Illinois were five strokes ahead of Southern Illinois in second. The Salukis outperformed Drake and Illinois State who were eighth and ninth respectively.

Netisingha picked up nine spots on the leaderboard with her closing round performance. She shot a two-over-par 74 in the final round, her best score of the tournament. Kerr finished tied for seventh after picking up 13 spots in the closing round with her score of 74. Kerr, who played as an individual in the tournament, improved in each round of the Battle at Boulder Creek.

"Hanna is really hitting her stride. She's so consistent and reliable," head coach Alexis O'Brien said. "Erica played really well this tournament. She finished second on the team and wasn't in our lineup. She will be our number two for us at our next event."

Freshman Emilyee McGiles, who led the Salukis after day one, finished tied for ninth with a three-round score of 232. She shot an 82 in the closing round.

"It's awesome to have a freshman tied for third after 36 holes," O'Brien said. "She played with the leaders and the pressure got to her today. There will be a next time where she's only a few shots back and she will prevail."

This was the Salukis' sixth-straight top-five finish this season. Southern will be back in action in two weeks at the Grand Canyon University Invitational in Phoenix, Arizona at Grand Canyon University Golf Course.