Women's Golf Set to Compete at its First NCAA Regional

5/2/05 -- Long Island, champions of the Northeast Conference, will compete at the NCAA Regionals for the first time in school history from Thursday through Saturday at the Rawls Course in Lubbock, Texas.

Placed in the Central Regional, the Blackbirds begin play Thursday at 1:40 pm Eastern Time. Live scoring of the regional can be accessed by clicking here.

LIU earned its spot in the tournament April 19 by virtue of winning its first NEC title. Senior Shauna Wilde (Mississauga, Ontario), named the league's Women's Golfer of the Year, won her first individual conference crown by shooting 149 to break her own tournament record by seven shots. She carded a tournament and career-best 73 to open play and closed with 76 to win by three shots for her third all-conference appearance.

Senior Veronica Lopes (Mississauga, Ontario) fired a final-round 81 to finish tied for third with 155 after shooting a career-best 74 in the first round. It marked the third time she made the all-conference team.

Senior Tracey Chew (Sacramento, Calif.) shot 85 for the second straight day to close 16th with 170 and sophomore Erica Chong (Hilo, Hawaii) finished tied for 17th with 172.

In just their fourth year of existence, the Blackbirds came through after finishing second each of the previous three seasons. Their total of 645 easily outdistanced St. Francis (PA), which came in as the three-time defending champion, by 10 shots. It is LIU’s fifth victory in a major tournament and third this season as it also captured the Fairfield Invitational in March and the Hofstra Spring Invitational.

At each of the three regionals, 21 teams along with three individuals whose teams did not qualify will compete over 54 holes. The top eight teams along with the top two individuals not among the top schools will advance to the NCAA Championship Finals, which will be held March 17-20 in Sunriver, Ore.