San Antonio, Texas - Steffi Neisen fired a career-best 69 in the final round to finish in a career-best tie for second at the Alamo Invitational at the Briggs Ranch Golf Club on Tuesday.
Neisen, a sophomore from New Prague, Minn., produced a career-best three-round total of 214 to lead the Huskers to a fifth-place team finish. Neisen's final-round 69 joined an opening-round 72 and a second-round 73. She finished just one shot back of individual champion Fabiola Arriaga from the host school Texas-San Antonio.
UTSA also claimed the team title with a final-round 290 to finish at 866, three strokes ahead of runner-up Baylor's 869. Texas A&M finished third (880), while Kentucky took fourth at 883, one shot ahead of the Huskers' 884.
A day after producing the best round in school history with a count-four team score of 280, the Huskers struggled to a 310 on Tuesday. In Monday's second round, Neisen's 73 was not good enough to count toward NU's team total because of career days from Kayla Knopik (69), Shelby Martinek (70) and Katelyn Wright (72) along with a three-under-par 69 from Madeleine Sheils.
On Tuesday, Neisen's career-best 69 was the only score better than 75 for the Huskers. Knopik used a final-round 75 to produce a career-best three-round score of 219 to finish in a tie for 13th place.
Sheils, a senior from Boise, Idaho, struggled with her worst round of the fall with an 84 to fall from a tie for fourth after two rounds into a tie for 37th in the final standings at 226.
Wright managed an 82 to finish in a tie for 51st, while Martinek settled for an 89 to slip from a tie for 10th into a tie for 57th (233).
Despite the rugged final round, Nebraska's three-round team score of 884 was its best tournament total of the fall by 40 strokes, surpassing the Huskers' 924 two weeks ago at the Hoosier Fall Invitational. It was NU's best team total since firing an 871 at The Challenge at Onion Creek to close the fall of 2009.
Nebraska will take more than three months off from competition before returning to the course for the Lady Puerto Rico Invitational hosted by Purdue in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, Feb. 12-14.
The Alamo Invitational
Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2011
Briggs Ranch Golf Club (San Antonio, Texas)
Par 72, 6,272 Yards
Final Team Results
1. UTSA - 293-283-290-866
2. Baylor - 293-283-293-869
3. Texas A&M - 298-290-22-880
4. Kentucky - 290-295-298-883
5. Nebraska - 294-280-310-884
6. TCU - 288-291-306-885
7. Texas State - 298-296-292-886
8. Texas Tech - 297-283-311-891
9. Central Florida - 294-292-308-894
10. Kennesaw State - 304-296-307-907
11. Missouri State - 306-306-298-910
12. Minnesota - 301-301-310-912
13. New Mexico State - 301-304-315-920
14. SMU - 309-311-302-922
Final Individual Results
1. Fabiola Arriago, UTSA - 69-72-72-213
T2. Steffi Neisen, Nebraska - 72-73-69-214
T2. Monifa Sealy, Central Florida - 69-71-74-214
T2. Hayley Davis, Baylor - 70-70-74-214
T5. Katerina Ruzickova, Texas A&M - 74-71-71-216
T5. Shannon Jungman, UTSA - 73-69-74-216
T5. Chelsey Cothran, Baylor - 75-68-73-216
T8. Krista Puisite, Texas State - 72-76-70-218
T8. Liz Breed, Kentucky - 72-73-73-218
T8. Demi Mak, New Mexico State - 71-74-73-218
T8. Valerie Sternebeck, Baylor - 72-73-73-218
Nebraska Individuals
T2. Steffi Neisen - 72-73-69-214
T13. Kayla Knopik - 75-69-75-219
T37. Madeleine Sheils - 73-69-84-226
T51. Katelyn Wright - 77-72-82-231
T57. Shelby Martinek - 74-70-89-233