Rio Verde Final Results 

PHOENIX – The Northern Illinois University women’s golf team played its way into the top 10 on the final round of play at the Rio Verde Invitational Sunday.

The Huskies fired a final round 304 and finished the tournament with a 912, good for 10th place. The finish ties the Huskies’ best placing in the Rio Verde, while their 912 is a team best in the event.

“The first day set us back big time and we dug ourselves a huge hole we couldn’t get out of,” said NIU head coach Kim Kester. “Yesterday was a good day and we came back and pretty much shot our average today.

“Moving forward we can’t be counting 80s in our team totals and that’s what we’ve had to do the past couple of days. We need to clean that up for the next tournament.”

Connie Ellett (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) and Lena Gautier (La Celle Saint Cloud, France/Creteil) led the way for the Huskies on the final round of play. The Huskie duo shot a final round 74 and 75, respectively. Ellett moved up the leaderboard 14 spots to finish in 36th after carding a 228. Gautier was the highest-placing NIU golfer, finishing in 32nd with a 227.

“Both came out ready to play today and they played extremely well,” Kester said of Ellett and Gautier. “This course sets up well for them. This is a special tournament and Connie knew that. She wanted to give the fans something to watch and she put together some good rounds.”

Freshman Brielle Ward (Frisco, Texas/Wakeland) who also shot a final round 75, moved up to 44th with a 230. Sydney Brickey (Burtchville, Mich./Shattuck-St. Mary’s) carded a final round 80 to finish with a three-round total of 234. Brickey finished in 55th. Kelly Anderson (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton-Warrenville South), shot a final round 82 to finish with a 237, which placed the Huskie freshman in 69th.

Toledo won the event with a 885, while Xavier’s Hanna Lee took the individual title with a 217. The only other Mid-American Conference team to finish ahead of the Huskies was Eastern Michigan, which took fifth with a 900. NIU finished ahead of Ohio (914), Bowling Green (914), Akron (915), Western Michigan (923) and Ball State (924).

The Huskies return to action Thursday, March 10 when NIU travels to St. George, Utah for the Pizza Hut Lady Thunderbird Invitational.

Team Scores: 1. Toledo (885); T-2. Wichita State (896), UMKC (896), Missouri State (896); T-5. Eastern Michigan (900), Bradley (900); 7. Northern Arizona (901); 8. Arkansas-Little Rock (912), Xavier (912); T-10. NIU (912), Arkansas State (912); T-12. Ohio (914), Bowling Green (914); 14. Akron (915); 15. Western Michigan (923); 16. Ball State (924); 17. Illinois State (928), 18. Seton Hall (944).

Individual Scores: 1. Hanna Lee (XU) 217; 2. Sathika Ruenreong (UT) 218; 3. Caroline Boone (MSU) 219; T-4. Cynthia Diaz (UMKC) 220, Gavrilla Arya (WSU) 220; T-6. Manisa Isavas (UT) 221, Karyn Lee Ping (EMU) 221; T-8. Verena Gimmy (MSU) 222, Danielle Nicholson (UA) 222, Morgan Salm (UT) 222.

-NIU-