University of Illinois
Lady Northern Invitational
Illinois Moves Up One, Finishes Ninth at Lady Northern
October 12, 2010 | Women's Golf
Oct. 12, 2010
GLENCOE, Ill. -
Lady Northern Final Team Results 
Lady Northern Final Individual Results
The Illinois (909) women's golf team wrapped up the 12-team Lady Northern Invitational at the par-72, 6,303-yard Lake Shore Country Club, Glencoe, Ill. The Illini rebounded from a tough day one, moving up one spot to ninth after a third round 298, the four-lowest round of the day.
"Obviously, it was a very solid round," head coach Renee Slone said. "This definitely bodes feel for our future. It was a good day overall. Yesterday, obviously, we just kind of put ourselves into a hole that was going to be tough to dig out of. We need to figure out a way to get off to a bit faster start."
Junior Samantha Sloan (221) had a career tournament, finishing in a tie for 15th at five-over par after carding a three-under par 69 in her final round en route to setting a career low in a single round and 54-hole tournament. Sloan's round of 69 included seven birdies and tied for the low round of the day. Sloan's previous career low in a single round was a two-under par 70 in the second of the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic earlier this season, while she tallied a tournament total of 223 twice before, most recently at the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic.
"It was really fun," Sloan said on her round. "I went out and just wanted to enjoy myself. I knew that I was capable of doing it because I had been playing really well, I just hadn't shot that well. I knew it was coming soon, but I just went out and let it happen. I hit the ball really well. I hit 14 greens. It was a solid round."
"It was a very good round for Sammi," Slone said of her junior's performance in the final round. "She actually got off to a slow start; she made a double bogey on her first hole of the day. That just goes to show you, that you have to hang in there for the entire round. Anything can happen. She bounced right back with a birdie on her next hole. She remained relaxed, focused and built confidence the entire round and finished up with a couple birdies coming in to cap off a very good round today."
Freshman Ember Schuldt (225) had her best tournament as an Illini, scoring a final round 77 to conclude the tournament in 29th and nine-over par. Junior Hailey Koschmann (229) cut four strokes off her scores from the previous day, shooting a three-over par 75 to finish in a tie for 37th at 13-over par.
Rounding out the Illini were juniors Nora Lucas (239), who tallied a final round 77 and ended the tournament in a tie for 62nd, and Maureen Liddy (242), with a third round 81 and finished in a tie for 67th. Senior Raquel Hopton (240) competed as an individual and had her best round of the tournament, shooting a three-over par 75 and finishing in a tie for 65th.
"One thing we still need to work on is from scoring, from about 140 yards out and in," Slone said. "We're going to divide some practice that is focused on that. We'll work on some longer putting as well and try to figure out what we need to do to get a little quicker start out of the gate on that day one, so we're putting ourselves to be in contention, rather than trying to play catch-up."
No. 6 Purdue (858) ran away with the team title, winning the Lady Northern Invitational by 17 strokes over runner-up No. 47 Northwestern (875). No. 21 Ohio State (883), No. 32 Iowa State (887) and Texas Tech (891) rounded out the top five. Northwestern's Lauren Weaver took medalist honors with an eight-under par 208, four strokes over Purdue's Laura Gonzalez (212).
The Orange and Blue will have two weeks off before they travel to Germantown, Tenn., for the University of Memphis Fall Invitational on Oct. 25-26.
9th ILLINOIS 307-304-298 = 909
T15 Samantha Sloan 77-75-69 = 221
29 Ember Schuldt 77-71-75 = 225
T37 Hailey Koschmann 77-77-75 = 229
T62 Nora Lucas 81-81-77 = 239
T65 Raquel Hopton 83-82-75 = 240*
T67 Maureen Liddy 76-85-81 = 242
*Competed as an individual.
