March 18, 2009
HONOLULU - The Texas A&M women's golf team rallied from a nine-stroke deficit on Wednesday to win the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational by six shots at Kanehoe Klipper Golf Course.
A&M (306-301-300=907) entered the final round nine shots behind Idaho, but solid rounds by senior Lauren Johnson (72), sophomore Ashley Freeman (74) helped lift the Aggies to victory.
"It was a lot of fun to watch today," A&M Coach Trelle McCombs said. "It seemed like were were making a birdie every time I turned around. This should show them what they are capable of doing and provide us with a big confidence boost."
Idaho finished second at 913, followed by Indiana (917), Nevada (919), Osaka Gakuin (922), Hawaii (923), Kansas State (924), Boise State (939), Nagoya (952), Texas-El Paso (957), Northern Colorado (996) and Lipscomb (1,004).
Johnson tied for second (71-76-73=220) in the individual standings, just one stroke behind Idaho's Kayla Mortellaro, who captured the title with rounds of 69-75-75=219.
Zwartynski tied for fourth (74-73-74=221), Freeman placed eighth (80-72-74=226), sophomore Stephanie Smith finished 36th (81-80-79=240) and freshman Kaitlin Hovda tied for 48th (82-82-82=246).
The Aggies return to action at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational starting on Friday in Austin.