Women's Golf | April 20

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's golf team is ready to show the Mid-American Conference what they've got as the squad heads to Kalamazoo to compete in the 2023 MAC Championships April 21-22.

"We've had a good little over a week of practice. We try not to do a tournament right before MACs. So, we've had some time and they're just ready," said head NIU coach Kim Kester. "All of the hard work this semester and in the fall is coming to fruition for them. They're seeing the gains that they've made and we're just ready to go out there and compete,"

NIU will square off against nine other MAC schools at the Kalamazoo Country Club this weekend. The tournament will commence with one 18-hole round Friday starting at 9:30 a.m. ET. Round two will be played on Saturday starting at 9:30 a.m. ET as well before the final round of action Sunday at 11/11:30 a.m. ET.

Last season at the MAC Championships, Jasmine Ly (Windsor, Ontario, Can./Holy Names High School) took first place as an individual while the team finished second. Ly's triumph was the Huskies' first-ever women's golf individual championship after posting a 69 in round one followed by 73's in rounds two and three.

This year, NIU is traveling six golfers with five competing in the tournament. Ly headlines the group with a scoring averaging just 73.67 strokes in 18-hole rounds. The Huskie junior recently notched her fifth top-10 finish of the season after tying for fourth as an individual at the Riverside Classic April 11.

Sydney Naro (Toronto, Ontario, Can./Hills International Golf Academy) enters the weekend averaging 74.80 strokes per-round. Naro has logged three top-10 finishes in her first year with the Huskies, including a tournament win at the Falcon Florida classic in February. Her 10-under 206 card was the best 54-hole individual scorecard in team history.

Emily Romancew (Pierrefonds, Quebec, Can./Ecole Secondaire Des Sources) averages 75.23 strokes per round with five top-20 finishes under her belt. Romancew saw her best finish of the season come at the Atlantic Invitational in February as she took 10th to pace the Huskies. Her three-under 68 round one card broke her career-high.

Ahra Ko (Suwanee, Ga./North Gwinnett) averages 76.33 strokes per round and has three top-20 finishes to her name this season. She's shot a 70 twice this season, two strokes shy of her career best.

Rounding out the Huskies that are traveling to Kalamazoo are Karen Liu (Taipei, Taiwan/Taipei Municipal Heping) who's averaging an 80.05 and Caroline Kent (Frisco, Texas/iUniversity Prep) who averages an 80.33.

Huskie fans can follow the weekend's action via GolfStat by clicking here.