#24 Women's Golf 5/20/2013 5:29:00 PM

Stars search for sixth NAIA women’s golf title

OCU enters NAIA Championships as No. 2 in NAIA women's golf

OCU won a pair of tournaments in 2013 including the Claude Jacobs Invitational and the SAC Championships.

LINCOLN, Neb. – Oklahoma City University will begin its search for a sixth NAIA women's golf championship Tuesday at Wilderness Ridge Golf Club.
OCU, ranked No. 2 in the NAIA, has captured NAIA titles in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
The Stars punched their ticket to the NAIA Championships by winning their 11th Sooner Athletic Conference title on April 23 at Dornick Hills Golf & Country Club in Ardmore, Okla. Elia Folch and Tanya Tibshraeny placed first and second respectively to help OCU to a 24-shot victory.
“The girls really fought through and played a really solid final round,” OCU coach Marty McCauley said. “It shows the depth of our team that our No. 2 and No. 4 players finished first and second in the event. It just shows that everyone is starting to improve as we come down the final stretch towards the national tournament.”
OCU claimed a pair of tournament titles this season including the Claude Jacobs Invitational and the SAC Championships, both by at least 20 strokes. The Stars also finished second in the UMKC Kangaroo Invitational and fourth in the Houston Baptist Husky Invitational against NCAA Division I competition.
The Stars are led by Jessica Schiele who finished sixth in the SAC Championships. The senior from Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, England, is third in the NAIA with a 74.81 stroke average in 23 rounds. Schiele leads the NAIA in birdies (56) and carded the second lowest round in the nation this season (67).
Folch, a junior from Barcelona, Spain, won the SAC individual championship with a score of 75-80–155. The junior is fourth in the NAIA with a 76.00 stroke average in 23 rounds. Folch has tallied 36 birdies on the season.
Taylor Howard, a senior from Ada, Okla., averaged 80.61 in 23 rounds this season. The senior posted her best finish of the season with a fifth place-finish at the Islander Classic.
Tibshraeny, a senior from Westhaven, Kirkwood, South Africa, averaged 81.30 in 23 rounds. The senior turned in a 10th-place finish in the Claude Jacobs Invitational to go along with her runner-up finish in the SAC Championships.
Fellow senior Mary Larsh, of Edmond, Okla., posted a stroke average of 80.43 this season. Larsh finished sixth in the Claude Jacobs Invitational and the SAC Championships.
The weather forecast for the week calls for temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s with slight chances of rain every day.
“The weather we faced during the conference tournament will help us for nationals because you never know what you're going to get this time of year with weather delays and stuff like that,” McCauley said. “Everything you can play in that's pretty tough is going to make you mentally tougher and sharper, so it should be an advantage for us.”
No. 5 Lubbock Christian (Texas) and No. 10 Wayland Baptist (Texas) will join OCU in the NAIA Championships field. Lubbock Christian will tee off at 12:30 p.m. with Northwood (Fla.) and SCAD-Atlanta (Ga.) while Wayland Baptist will tee off at 7:30 a.m. with SCAD-Savannah (Ga.) and Concordia (Ore.).
The Stars will tee off at 8:20 a.m. Tuesday and will be paired with South Carolina-Beaufort and Grand View (Iowa). Live scoring for the tournament will be available here. Go here for a live video stream of the greens on the ninth and 18 holes as well as the first and 10th tee boxes.
Round 1 Pairings
Round 2 Pairings

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