Owasso, Okla. - Steffi Neisen matched her career best with a final-round 73 to tie for ninth at the Dale McNamara Invitational on Tuesday.
Neisen, a true freshman from New Prague, Minn., closed the three-day tournament with a career-best 223 (77-73-73) over three rounds on the par-72, 6,450-yard layout at the Patriot Golf Club to produce her first career top-10 finish.
"Steffi really played some solid golf again today," Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl said. "This course has a lot of holes that can jump out and bite you at any time, but she put together three strong rounds and managed the course well. There were some rough scoring conditions today because the wind came up and made it difficult at times."
Neisen's 73 matched Kennesaw State's Patricia Arana for the fifth-best round of the day among the 90 golfers in the tournament field.
Husker Madeleine Sheils also moved up the leaderboard on Wednesday, bouncing back from an 81 on Tuesday to shoot a two-over-par 74. Sheils, a junior from Boise, Idaho, tied for 15th place at 227, including NU's best round in the tournament with an opening-round 72.
Neisen and Sheils helped the Huskers to a 14th-place team finish in a talented 16-team field. Oklahoma won the tournament with a 54-hole score of 877, 13 shots ahead of both Texas and Oklahoma. The hosts from Tulsa took fourth at 903.
Oklahoma's Ellen Mueller led the tournament from start to finish, winning by seven strokes with a seven-under-par 209. Mueller's tournament included an opening-round 67 and a final-round 69. Tulsa's Kristina Merkle finished second with an even-par 216.
While Neisen and Sheils put together two of the top eight rounds on Wednesday, the rest of the Husker contingent struggled.
Junior Kayla Knopik settled for an 84 in the final round to slip into a tie for 55th at 239. Knopik's round snapped a streak of 10 consecutive rounds of better than 80 to open the season.
True freshman Katelyn Wright managed an 83 while playing as an individual outside of the Husker lineup to finish the tournament with a three-round total of 245 in a tie for 71st. Fellow freshman Remy Molyneux posted an 84 to finish in a tie for 74th at 250, while junior Carolyn Schorgl tied for 80th with a 253 that included a final-round 83.
Nebraska will take two weeks off from competition before concluding the fall season at the Alamo Invitational, Oct. 31-Nov. 2.
Dale McNamara Invitational
Host: Tulsa
Patriot Golf Club (Owasso, Okla.)
Oct. 11-13, 2010
Final Team Standings
1. Oklahoma - 292-291-294-877
T2. Oklahoma State - 301-290-309-900
T2. Texas - 297-302-301-900
4. Tulsa - 303-295-305-903
5. UNLV - 292-307-306-905
6. Middle Tennessee State - 293-309-305-907
7. Kennesaw State - 305-307-307-919
8. UALR - 301-312-310-923
9. Wichita State - 310-313-306-929
10. Kansas State - 306-321-304-931
11. Missouri - 314-305-313-932
T12. Long Beach State - 301-307-328-936
T12. Oral Roberts - 309-317-310-936
14. Nebraska - 311-313-314-938
15. SMU - 314-327-321-962
16. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi - 330-317-329-976
Final Individual Standings
1. Ellen Mueller, Oklahoma - 67-73-69-209
2. Kristina Merkle, Tulsa - 68-73-75-216
T3. Therese Koelbaek, UNLV - 69-74-75-218
T3. Taylor Schmidt, Oklahoma - 73-70-75-218
5. Katelyn Sepmoree, Texas - 76-73-70-219
6. Victoria Park, Oklahoma State - 71-71-78-220
T7. Karisa Akin, Middle Tennessee State - 73-76-72-221
T7. Chirapet Jao-Javanil, Oklahoma - 73-72-76-221
T9. Steffi Neisen, Nebraska - 77-73-73-223
T9. Kristen Schelling, UNLV - 72-75-76-223
T9. Ashley Haggard, Middle Tennessee State - 69-72-82-223
T9. Madison Pressel, Texas - 72-72-79-223
Nebraska Individuals
T9. Steffi Neisen - 77-73-73-223
T15. Madeleine Sheils - 72-81-74-227
T55. Kayla Knopik - 77-78-84-239
71. *Katelyn Wright - 82-80-83-245
T74. Remy Molyneux - 85-81-84-250
T80. Carolyn Schorgl - 85-85-83-253
* playing as an individual outside of Nebraska's lineup