Brown, Lee Finish in Top-10, 'Cats Take Third

9/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf

Sept. 14, 2011

Event: 2011 Dale McNamara Invitational
Location: Patriot Golf Club • Owasso, Okla.
Result: Northwestern finishes in 3rd (19-over 883)
Next Up: Dick McGuire Invitational • Albuquerque, N.M. • Sept. 25 and 26

2011 Dale McNamara Final Results

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern recorded its best round of the 2011 Dale McNamara Invitational on Wednesday, shooting a 1-over 289, allowing the 'Cats to finish in third place. A late push by Oklahoma State -- during which seemingly every shot fell for the Cowboys -- ultimately kept the 'Cats at bay, but a top-3 finish was on par for what head coach Emily Fletcher had expected for the season opener.

Devon Brown, who shot a 3-over 219 after three rounds, finished in fourth place in the overall individual standings, her best finish since the season opener a year ago when she placed third at the Wolverine Invitational. The sophomore stayed out of trouble for the most part on Wednesday, shooting a 2-over 74, but a solid 2-under outing in the second round secured her top-5 finish.

After a 2-over 74 third round, Hana Lee moved up to sixth place on the leaderboard with an overall 4-over 220 54-hole score. The freshman struggled some on the front nine, but bounced back to birdie the 11th and 16th holes to end at just 2-over. Lee's fellow classmate Brittany Mai progressively shot better throughout the tournament and recorded her best performance of the week with a 2-under 70 in the final round. Mai (7-over 223) birdied the first two holes and sunk two more on the back nine to secure her first under-par round of her Wildcat career, finishing in a tie for 15th place.

Junior Lauren Weaver had a terrific third day on the course, bouncing back from a tough first two rounds to shoot a 1-under 71 to close out the tournament. Weaver (11-over 227) birdied holes 3, 5 and 6 on the front nine and managed to remain even on the back to stay under par the rest of the day. After her great outing on Tuesday, Alex Lederhausen was in fine position to finish in the top-25 individually, but an 18th-hole triple bogey on Wednesday pushed her back to 31st with a 12-over 228 after three rounds. The senior performed well on the front nine, finishing 1-over heading to the 10th tee, but slipped with back-to-back bogeys on 14 and 15.

As a team, Oklahoma State stole the show in the third round, shooting an insurmountable 13-under 275 to overtake Arizona State, who shot a 13-over 301. The Sun Devils (9-over 873) finished just 10 strokes ahead of Northwestern at 19-over 883. Iowa State (24-over 888) and host club Tulsa (37-over 901) rounded out the top five. Oral Roberts (41-over 905) placed sixth, followed by Kansas State (46-over 910) in seventh, Longwood (47-over 911) in eighth, Middle Tennessee State (49-over 913) in ninth and Central Florida (52-over 916) in 10th. Arkansas-Little Rock and Kansas (63-over 927) tied for 11th, while Missouri (68-over 932), Arkansas State (74-938) and Southern Mississippi (86-over 950) all brought up the rest of the field.

Next up for the 'Cats is a trip to Albuquerque, N.M., for the Dick McGuire Invitational on Sept. 25 and 26. NU is looking to improve on its 11th-place finish at the same tournament in 2010.

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