April 24, 2011

GLENCOE, Ill. -

Big Ten Championships Final Scores

The Illinois (1237) women's golf team concluded the 2011 Big Ten Championships on Sunday, placing ninth out of 11 teams. Illinois carded a 19-over par 307 in the final round at the par-72, 6,303-yard Lake Shore Country Club. Freshman Ember Schuldt (310) led all Illini golfers at the tournament at 22-over par after tallying a final round seven-over par 79 to finish in a tie for 32nd.

"It wasn't what we were looking for this weekend," head coach Renee Slone said. "At the conclusion of the season we'll definitely have a few items to discuss as far as what direction we're heading, how we get to where we want to be, and some of things we need to work on over the summer. The NCAA Regional announcement is made tomorrow, so we'll have our fingers crossed, hoping that this isn't the end of our season and that we have at least one more tournament, if not two tournaments to go."

Juniors Samantha Sloan (311) and Nora Lucas finished the tournament at 23-over par with final rounds of five-over par 77 and six-over par 78, respectively, to place in a tie for 38th. Junior Hailey Koschmann (313) carded a final round five-over par 77 to finish in a tie for 43rd at 25-over par. Koschmann played the final back nine at two-under par. Junior Katelin Dilger (319) had a six-over par 78 in the final round to place in a tie at 54th at 31-over par. Sophomore Crystal Smith had her best round of the Championships, firing a three-over par 75 in the final round and finished in a tie for 60th at 34-over par.

"Coming into the tournament I was really hoping to fine tune my game up and play well," Schuldt said of her first Big Ten Championships. "The 75 was pretty solid, considering the conditions, but I couldn't really get anything going today or yesterday. So it was kind of a little ho-hum finish, but it provided me with experience for the next three years to come."

No. 19 Michigan State (1,180) won their fourth Big Ten Championship and first since 2007, besting No. 4 Purdue (1,185) by five strokes to take the title. No. 38 Northwestern (1,187) pleased the home crowd with a third place finish, followed by Wisconsin (1,195) and No. 31 Ohio State (1,200).

Purdue's Numa Gulyanamitta (287) took home individual medalist honors with a one-under par performance. Gulyanamitta was also honored with the Mary Fossum Award, given to the Big Ten player with the lowest stroke average to par this season. The All-Big Ten Championships Team featured Michigan State's Caroline Powers and Lindsey Solberg, Northwestern's Alex Lederhausen and Lauren Weaver and Purdue's Laura Gonzalez-Escallon and Gulyanamitta.

"Looking forward there a few things we really need hone in on," Slone said. "We definitely have these sparks and these pieces of really great golf. Now it's just a matter of putting it together and managing to get the four good rounds each and every time out. We're kind of at that point now where we need a player to step up and be that player that's going to shoot 74 or better each time out. Somehow we've got to get that strong base established where we can work from there. It's kind of that next jump that we need to make, that we're looking to make."

The 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships selection will be announced on Monday, April 25 at 6 p.m. CT, while the 2011 All-Big Ten team and individual honors will be announced on Tuesday. The Big Ten Network will televise the Big Ten Women's Golf Championships in taped delay on Saturday, May 14 at Noon ET.

9 ILLINOIS                                             314-313-303-307 = 1237 (+85)
T32 Ember Schuldt                        78-75-78-79 = 310 (+22)
T38 Samantha Sloan                     78-82-74-77 = 311 (+23)
T38 Nora Lucas                             78-80-75-78 = 311 (+23)
T43 Hailey Koschmann                  80-79-77-77 = 313 (+25)
T54 Katelin Dilger                         85-79-77-78 = 319 (+31)
T60 Crystal Smith                         82-84-81-75 = 322 (+34)