April 18, 2008

Oviedo, FL (UWIRE) -- The UCF Women's Golf team played its worst round of the Conference USA Championship at the worst possible time, resulting in a fourth-place finish for the Knights in El Paso, Texas.

UCF was in third place heading into the final round, but 40-over-par 328 in the third and final round Wednesday dropped the Knights from third place to fourth place.

"We started out the day playing pretty decent, but the wind really picked up with gusts up to 35 miles per hour and we could not adjust," UCF coach Emilee Klein said in a press release.

Jessy Tang was once again the highest finisher for the Knights, shooting an 18-over-par 234 to finish in a tie for 11th. She began the day in a tie for eighth place after shooting a 8-over-par 152 through the first two rounds.

May Tomimbang finished one stroke behind Tang in a tie for 14th place, while Leigh Crosby shot a 22-over-par 238 to finish in a tie for 19th place.

The fourth-place finish is one place lower than the Knights finished last season, in which they finished tied for third place.

The Tulsa Golden Hurricane dominated the field, winning the tournament by 18 strokes. Their second-round 297 was the best round of the tournament and the only one in which a team scored less than 300.

Tulsa's other rounds were a 16-over-par 304 in the first round and a 15-over-par 303 in the third round.

One of Tulsa's players also won the individual title. Woeri Shin finished with a 4-over-par 220 to beat her closest competitor by six strokes.

The Knights will now hope for a regional bid to the NCAA Tournament, which starts May 8.

"We're disappointed that we did not play our best," Klein said in a press release, "but we are keeping our hopes up that we'll get a regional bid."

(C) 2008 Central Florida Future via UWIRE