May 24, 2002
AUBURN, Wash. - The Arizona State women's golf team finished in a tie for ninth place at the NCAA Championships, held May 21-24 at the par 72, 6,273-yard Washington National Golf Club.
The Sun Devils tied for ninth with Pepperdine with a four-day total of 34-over par 1186 (301-292-292-301) after carding a 13-over 301 in Friday's final round. With the ninth-place finish, the Sun Devils finish the 2001-02 season with their 16th top 10 finish in 21 NCAA appearances and their first since 1999.
Duke won the NCAA team title, carding a one-under 287 on Friday and finishing with a 12-over total of 1164. A trio of teams - Arizona, Auburn and Texas - finished in a tie for second with a four-day total of 1170.
Sophomore Jimin Kang was the top individual finisher for the Sun Devils, tying for 19th in her second consecutive top 20 NCAA finish. Kang, a native of Edmonds, Wash., carded a one-over par 73 on Friday and finished with a four-round total of four-over par 292 (73-78-68-73). Junior Blair O'Neal tied for 31st at eight-over 296 (72-72-74-78), while junior Ga?lle Truet finished in a tie for 41st in her first career NCAA Championships appearance (77-72-73-75=297).
Junior Melanie Hunt tied for 75th at 16-over par 304 (79-70-78-77), and freshman Erin Tone carded her best round of the tournament Friday with a four-over 76 but did not appear in the individual standings after being disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard in the second round (80-DQ-77-76).
Duke's Virada Nirapathpongporn won the individual title with a four-round total of nine-under par 279 (68-69-70-72), finishing with a four-stroke advantage over four players who finished at four-under 284 including Arizona's Lorena Ochoa.
NCAA West Regional - Final Results May 21-24, 2002 - Washington National Golf Club - Auburn, Wash.1. Duke 294-293-290-287=1164 2. Arizona 285-296-293-296=1170 Auburn 298-300-285-287=1170 Texas 305-286-285-294=1170 5. Georgia 294-294-295-292=1176 6. Florida 298-291-295-295=1179 Oklahoma 299-289-301-290=1179 8. Ohio State 299-292-296-293=1180 9. Arizona State 301-292-292-301=1186 Pepperdine 301-294-297-294=1186 11. Stanford 299-295-295-298=1187 12. Tulsa 302-297-296-293=1188 13. Oklahoma State 299-303-297-290=1189 14. USC 307-294-298-293=1192 15. California 298-303-292-300=1193 16. Purdue 304-296-297-301=1198 17. Michigan 301-299-299-300=1199 18. Vanderbilt 311-296-296-298=1201 19. Michigan State 305-297-311-289=1202 20. Washington 302-297-305-299=1203 21. UCLA 314-297-298-295=1204 22. Wake Forest 298-305-302-301=1206 23. South Carolina 298-298-308-313=1217 24. South Florida 313-322-323-313=1271