Babineaux, Tribolet Share Big Ten Freshman Honors

Nebraska women's golfers Kaleigh Babineaux and Ailis Tribolet shared Big Ten Co-Freshmen-of-the-Week honors when the conference announced its awards on Thursday, Feb. 26.

Babineaux, a true freshman from Austin, Texas, fired a career-best 207 (-9) to finish in a career-best tie for sixth individually with Tribolet, leading Nebraska to a fourth-place team finish at the Westbrook Spring Invitational in Peoria, Ariz. (Feb. 21-22).

Babineaux opened with back-to-back rounds of 70 (-2) before firing a career-best 67 (-5) in the final round to help the Huskers to a school-record 272 (-16) on the final day of competition. Her previous collegiate best single-round score was 70 (-2) at The Clash at Boulder Creek (Oct. 27).

The Westbrook Spring Invitational marked Babineaux's fifth consecutive top-25 finish but her first top-10 showing of her career. 

While Babineaux finished strong with a 67 (-5) on the final day of competition in Arizona, Tribolet set the tone for the Huskers with a 67 of her own in the opening round on the 6,293-yard, par-72 layout of the Vistas Course at the Westbrook Village Golf Club. 

Tribolet, a true freshman from Chandler, Ariz., fired a career-best 207 (-9) to finish in a career-best tie for sixth individually. She added rounds of 69 and 71 to close the tournament. Her previous collegiate best single-round score was 71 (-1) three times, while her previous career-best tournament total was 217 (+1) at the UCF Challenge to open the spring (Jan. 25-27).

The Westbrook Spring Invitational marked Tribolet's second straight top-10 finish for the Huskers, following a seventh-place finish at the Texas Golf Throwdown (Feb. 16-17).

Her performance in Arizona also represented her third consecutive top-25 showing. 

Tribolet and Babineaux helped the Huskers notch the best finish of any Big Ten team at the Westbrook Spring Invitational, defeating Rutgers, Minnesota, Penn State and the hosts from Wisconsin.