WORLEY, Idaho - Gonzaga University's women's golf team rebounded well Tuesday to finish sixth at the Circling Raven Intercollegiate Invitational.
The host Bulldogs moved up from a tie for ninth after Monday's 36 holes to shoot 303 for a 54-hole score of 930, just one shot out of fifth.
Washington State University maintained its first-day lead with a 308 for a 54-hole score of 913 and a nine-stroke victory over the University of San Francisco and Portland State University. The Dons won a scorecard playoff with PSU to claim the second-place trophy. The score of each team's fifth player in the final round was used to break the tie.
For the second straight day a Gonzaga freshman shot under par, Han Wu posting a 1-under par 71 Tuesday to follow Alice Kim's 71 in Monday's second round over the 6,111-yard, par 72 Circling Raven Golf Club layout.
Kim, from Honolulu, tied for seventh with rounds of 81-71-76 for 228 to finish in a three-way tie for seventh. Victoria Fallgren, playing No. 1 for the Bulldogs, had rounds of 76-79-78 and Wu rounds of 79-83-71 for 233 and a nine-way logjam at 24th.
Rickel was pleased with his team's resilience to come back from a less-than-desirable first day.
"I think we played the way we can, the way we should. I think the first-day jitters or whatever it was were over and we felt like we had let ourselves done a tiny bit, not with effort but with results. It was a lot better today," Rickel said.
Wu's round also brought a smile to Rickel, especially on the heels of what Kim had done on Monday.
"I'm really fired up that both of our freshmen shot under par in their first tournament. They both had a round they probably wish they could have back, but they proved to themselves the first tournament out of the gate they can play at this level. It shows where our team is headed," Rickel said.
The Bulldogs don't get much time to relax, playing in the WCU Cougar Cup next Monday and Tuesday at Washington State University. Based on what happened over the last two days, Rickel said there could be a line-up change.
"I think Stephanie Corey, who played as an individual this week, probably proved she needs a chance to be in the top five next week. But I have to see where we really sit before I determine the lineup," he said.
Corey, one of two seniors on the squad, shot 75-78-78 for a 231 and a tie for 16th.
Rickel said next week's tournament at WSU "will probably be a little more top-heavy than what we had here. I'm sure a few Pac-12 teams will be there as WSU is hosting the Pac-12's this year. Those teams will want to come out and see that course."
This is the first year of the Pacific-12 Conference with the University of Colorado and University of Utah joining forces the Pacific-10 Conference schools July 1.
The Bulldogs also got a look at a pair of teams they'll see down the road in the West Coast Conference Championship in USF and BYU. BYU, which tied for the title here a year ago and lost a scorecard playoff to two-time champion Northern Arizona University, finished eighth at 934, four strokes behind the Bulldogs.
"San Francisco is always going to be good, just like BYU. It was nice to come back and finish in front of BYU today," Rickel said.
