May 5, 2010
2010 NCAA Women's Golf Central Regional
Thursday, May 6 through Saturday, May 8
Otter Creek Golf Course (Columbus, Ind.) Par 72, 6,416 yards
Field: Northwestern, Arizona State, USC, Purdue, Michigan State, Georgia, Denver, New Mexico, Florida State, Oklahoma State, Louisville, Oregon, Kent State, Notre Dame, Mississippi, San Diego State, Baylor, Tulsa, North Carolina State, Indiana, Illinois State, Murray State, Detroit, Jackson State
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com
2009-10 Northwestern Women's Golf Statistics (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. -- For the first time since 2007, Northwestern is among the 72 programs still in the hunt for the 2010 NCAA Women's Golf Championship as it heads to Columbus, Ind., for this weekend's NCAA Central Regional. The Wildcats are the 13th seed among the 24 teams converging at Otter Creek Golf Course, beginning Thursday, May 6.
"I'm extremely proud of our girls in earning a bid to the Central Regionals," said head coach Emily Fletcher. "This has been our goal ever since last season ended and they have really responded well to the challenge we gave them. We have been playing well lately and have become more consistent, and hopefully we will be able to continue to improve now that we are heading into the postseason."
The Wildcats are coming off a solid 2009-10 campaign which consisted of eight top-10 tournament finishes, capped by a sixth-place showing at the Big Ten Championships on April 25. Freshman Lauren Weaver (Scottsdale, Ariz./Cactus Shadows), who was a second team All-Big Ten selection, has led the program with a 75.41 scoring average and seven top-20 finishes.
The sophomore duo of Alexandra Lederhausen (Hinsdale, Ill./Central) and Kylie Fuller (Temecula, Calif./Chapparal) have also played a key role in the Wildcats' success, posting a 76.18 and 76.29 scoring average respectively with a combined six top-20 finishes. Juniors Kelsey Lindenschmidt (West Chester, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) and Rebecca Lederhausen (Hinsdale, Ill./Central) round out the Northwestern scorecard for regionals.
Indiana will serve as the host institution for the regional, which will be held Thursday, May 6 through Saturday, May 8. The format is a 54-hole tournament with teams playing 18 holes per day as the top eight schools will qualify for the NCAA Championships in Wilmington, N.C., May 18-21.
There will be a handful of familiar faces for Northwestern at Otter Creek as the Wildcats will meet up once again with Big Ten rivals Purdue, Michigan State and the host Hoosiers, as the Boilermakers and Spartans are ranked third and fourth in the region behind Arizona State and Southern California. Northwestern is the region's 13 seed with Indiana sitting at 20th.
This marks the eighth time in program history that Northwestern will compete in the NCAA Regional Championships and the first since 2007. The Wildcats have placed among the top-15 in each trip to the postseason, highlighted by a runner-up finish in 2000 when they advanced to the NCAA Championships.
Northwestern will compete in the afternoon session on Thursday, with the first players teeing off at 11:30 a.m. CT. Live scoring of the Central Regional will be available throughout the weekend at Golfstat.com.
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