Mesa, Ariz. - Four Huskers produced top-30 individual finishes in a 90-player field to help the Nebraska women's golf team to a ninth-place team finish at the Clover Cup on Sunday.
Vanessa Bouvet fired Nebraska's best individual round of the tournament with a one-under-par 71 to jump into a tie for 25th in the final standings. Bouvet, a freshman from Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, closed the 54-hole event on the par-72, 6,184-yard layout of the Longbow Golf Club at 227 (79-77-71).
Kate Smith produced a solid final round with a 74. The junior from Detroit Lakes, Minn., was Nebraska's top overall finisher in the tournament with a 224 (77-73-74) to tie for 16th.
Kirsten Baete, a redshirt freshman from Beatrice, Neb., carded her best round of the tournament on Sunday with a three-over-par 75 to finish in a tie for 30th at 229 (78-76-75).
Baete tied with fellow Husker Megan Whittaker at 30th with a 229 (73-78-78). Whittaker, a true freshman from Elkhorn, Neb., competed as an individual outside the Nebraska lineup at the Clover Cup.
Noor Ahmed finished the tournament with her finest round of the weekend with a two-over-par 74 to help the Huskers close the tournament with a final-round 294. Nebraska moved up one spot to ninth in the final team standings at 916, climbing past Big Ten rival Wisconsin on the final day. Ahmed finished in a tie for 61st at 238.
Sisters Hannah and Haley Thiele (Wahoo, Neb.) rounded out the Husker contingent. Hannah finished in a tie for 57th at 236 (78-79-79) while playing as an individual outside Nebraska's lineup. Haley finished 73rd at 244.
National No. 1 USC ran away with the team title with a three-round total of 876, 16 strokes ahead of second-place Houston. Kentucky took third at 894, while Oklahoma finished fourth at 895.
USC's Jennifer Chang, Houston's Leonie Harm, Kentucky's Leonie Bettel and Oklahoma's Libby Winans all shared the individual title with 54-hole scores of 214 (-2). Harm and Winans both closed the tournament with final-round scores of 68, while Chang carded a two-under-par 70 over the final 18 holes. Bettel managed a final-round 73.
Nebraska wraps up its regular season at the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, April 13-14.
Clover Cup
Hosted by Notre Dame
Mesa, Arizona
Longbow Golf Club (Par 72, 6,184 Yards)
March 15-17, 2019
Final Team Results
1. USC - 292-293-291-876 (+12)
2. Houston - 306-300-286-892 (+28)
3. Kentucky - 298-301-295-894 (+30)
4. Oklahoma - 299-299-297-895 (+31)
5. Mississippi State - 298-305-299-902 (+38)
6. Notre Dame - 303-306-297-906 (+42)
7. Mercer - 310-305-298-913 (+49)
8. Kansas State - 306-305-303-914 (+50)
9. Nebraska - 315-307-294-916 (+52)
10. Wisconsin - 313-307-299-919 (+55)
11. UNC Greensboro - 316-307-298-921 (+57)
12. FIU - 316-314-321-951 (+87)
13. IUPUI - 322-320-312-954 (+90)
14. Cincinnati - 330-322-318-970 (+106)
15. Western Carolina - 339-326-322-987 (+123)
Final Individual Results
T1. Jennifer Chang, USC - 72-72-70-214 (-2)
T1. Leonie Harm, Houston - 71-75-68-214 (-2)
T1. Leonie Bettel, Kentucky - 67-74-73-214 (-2)
T1. Libby Winans, Oklahoma - 74-72-68-214 (-2)
T5. Amelia Garvey, USC - 74-73-73-220 (+4)
T5. Hannah Screen, Houston - 77-75-68-220 (+4)
T7. Malia Nam, USC - 73-74-74-221 (+7)
T7. Mary Janiga, Mercer - 78-70-73-221 (+7)
T7. *Alyaa Abdulghany, USC - 76-74-71-221 (+7)
T7. Isabella DiLisio, Notre Dame - 75-73-73-221 (+7)
Nebraska Individuals
T16. Kate Smith - 77-73-74-224 (+8)
T25. Vanessa Bouvet - 79-77-71-227 (+11)
T30. Kirsten Baete - 78-76-75-229 (+13)
T30. *Megan Whittaker - 73-78-78-229 (+13)
T57. *Hannah Thiele - 78-79-79-236 (+20)
T61. Noor Ahmed - 83-81-74-238 (+22)
73. Haley Thiele - 81-82-81-244 (+28)