April 5, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ind. -
Indiana Invitational Final Results 
After heavy rains made it necessary to postpone play at the Indiana Invitational on Monday, the Illinois (619) women's golf team was able to complete the tournament on Tuesday, carding rounds of 314-305 to finish third out of 15 teams, only four strokes off runner-up Eastern Michigan (615). The Invitational, held at the par-72, 6,222-yard Otter Creek Golf Course, was shortened to 36 holes after weather delays cut Monday's first round short.
"We put ourselves in reasonable position following the first round," said head coach Renee Slone. "Scores were high for everybody, so we definitely knew that in the final round we needed to make a big push and we were able to post a better number in the second round."
The Illini were led by junior Nora Lucas (149) with rounds of 75-74 to finish in fifth at five-over par. It is the junior's best career finish as an Illini. Junior Samantha Sloan (155) recorded rounds of 75-80 to finish the tournament in a tie for 14th at 11-over par. Junior Hailey Koschmann (157) carded rounds of 82-75 to place in a tie for 24th at 13-over par. Koschmann cut seven strokes off her first round score to jump 21 spots after her second round. Rounding out the Illini were junior Katelin Dilger (160), who had rounds of 82-78 to finish tied for 36th at 16-over par, and freshman Ember Schuldt (161), who recorded rounds of 83-78 and placed in a tie for 43rd at 17-over par.
"Nora had two very solid rounds," Slone said. "In our team meeting the night before the first day of play we discussed that we would be facing a variety of weather conditions and it would be necessary to be prepared for anything and everything, both mentally and physically. I think they handled that very well."
No. 35 Louisville (593) took home the team title after recording the only two rounds under 300 of the tournament. Indiana (622) and Kansas State (624) rounded out the top five.
"At this point in time we really need to raise the bar and set our standards a little bit higher," Slone said. "We need to continue to push hard in these next two tournaments in order to achieve our season-long goal of qualifying for the NCAA Regionals."
The Illini will be back in action for their final regular season tournament of the year when they travel to Columbus, Ohio, for the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational on April 16-17, followed by the Big Ten Championship, hosted by Northwestern on April 22-24.
3 ILLINOIS 314-305 = 619 (+43)
5 Nora Lucas 75-74 = 149 (+5)
T14 Samantha Sloan 75-80 = 155 (+11)
T24 Hailey Koschmann 82-75 = 157 (+13)
T36 Katelin Dilger 82-78 = 160 (+16)
T43 Ember Schuldt 83-78 = 161 (+17)
