Cowgirls survive cut at NCAA Championship, Sooners bow out
Carlsbad, Calif. – Oklahoma State is headed to the final round of stroke play at the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship for the third time in five years after grinding through tough conditions Sunday at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.
The Oklahoma Sooners, meanwhile, saw their season end Sunday, although Savannah Barber advanced as an individual.
Battling rain, wind and heat, the Cowgirls matched Saturday’s score with another 9-over, 297, to finish the third round six shots ahead of the cut line.
OSU is one of just two Big 12 schools, along with No. 8 Arizona State, to qualify for Monday’s fourth round, which will include just 15 of the original 30 teams plus the top nine unattached individuals.
Twelfth-place OSU (+14) will need to make up at least six strokes on Monday in order to qualify for the match play quarterfinals. South Carolina (+8), Arizona State (+11), Virginia (+12) and Tennessee (+12) all stand between the Cowgirls and the eighth-and-final spot. They last qualified for that portion in 2021 on their way to a national runner-up finish.
“It wasn’t our best day today, but we’re still in a position to keep this tournament alive with a great round tomorrow,” head coach Greg Robertson said. “If we can post a good score early, it could give us a shot at making match play.”
After two rounds in the red, Grace Kilcrease posted a 3-over, 75 on Sunday. The junior is tied for 17th place at 1-under par but sits just two strokes outside the top-10 and eight back of the lead heading into what will be the final round of individual competition.
Sophomore Marta Silchenko posted the Cowgirls’ best round of the day with a 73 (+1). The Latvian standout caught fire with three straight birdies on holes 5 through 7 and completed the front nine in just 34 strokes. She sits at 4-over for the weekend and in 42nd place heading into Monday.
Fellow second-year Ellie Bushnell carded a 74 (+2) for the day and is tied for 63rd with freshman teammate Summer Lee, who finished with a 75 (+3). Tarapath Panya rounded out the lineup with an 82.
OSU will be paired with No. 10 Virginia and 31st-ranked Tennessee on day four with tee times beginning at 1:01 p.m. CT. Fans can tune in to live coverage on the Golf Channel.
Oklahoma junior Savannah Barber advanced as the Sooner is tied for 28th and will be one of nine individuals on a non-advancing team to compete Monday.
The Sooners (T21, +32) saw their season come to an end as a team, missing the 54-hole cut in their first national championship appearance since 2018.
Barber (T28, +2) fired the best round of any Sooner at the championships, carding a 3-under 69 in Sunday’s third round. The Fort Worth, Texas, product started on the 10th hole and made the turn at 2-under behind a pair of birdies over her first nine. A bogey on No. 1 (her 10th hole) was offset by three more birdies on the back side, as she posted a 69 and jumped 39 spots on the leaderboard – the fourth-largest leap among individuals advancing to Monday. Barber will look to continue her climb and break into the top 20, which would make her the fifth Sooner since 2000 to earn a top-20 finish at the NCAA Championships.
Arkansas’ Maria Jose Marin (-9) leads the championship entering the final round, one shot ahead of Stanford’s Paula Martin Sampedro (-8).
Freshman Audrey Rischer (T86, +9) was OU’s second-highest finisher, shooting 3-over in the final round to tie for 86th. Junior MaKayla Tyrrell (T101, +11), senior Reagan Chaney (T108, +12) and junior Gracie Mayo (T145, +22) rounded out the OU lineup.
Led by 16th-year head coach Veronique Drouin-Luttrell, Oklahoma outperformed its championship seeding. The Sooners entered the week seeded 26th and finished tied for 21st, ahead of four teams ranked above them.
Stanford leads the team championship at 23-under, followed by Northwestern (-8) and Oregon (-2) as the only other teams under par. The Southeastern Conference advanced six teams past the first cut, all of which will be among the 15 squads competing Monday. The top eight teams after Monday’s round will move on to match play.
Barber will tee off in the final round Monday at 3:23 p.m. CT.
Team Leaderboard:
1. Stanford (-23) — 293-278-270
2. Northwestern (-8) — 291-285-280
3. Oregon (-2) — 288-289-285
4. Southern California (E) — 292-287-285
5. Florida State (+3) — 295-284-288
5. Arkansas (+3) — 297-290-280
7. Texas (+5) — 288-293-288
8. South Carolina (+8) — 297-286-289
9. Arizona State (+11) — 288-294-293
10. Virginia (+12) — 294-293-289
10. Tennessee (+12) — 291-297-288
12. Oklahoma State (+14) — 284-297-297
13. LSU (+16) — 293-297-290
14. UCLA (+18) — 295-294-293
14. Mississippi State (+18) — 294-286-302
CUT LINE
16. Vanderbilt (+20) — 282-306-296
17. Florida (+21) — 288-301-296
18. Michigan State (+24) — 294-303-291
19. Wake Forest (+26) — 304-298-288
19. Kansas State (+26) — 289-301-300
21. Kansas (+31) — 297-304-294
22. Iowa State (+32) — 306-294-296
22. Oklahoma (+32) — 302-297-297
24. Georgia Southern (+36) — 295-313-292
24. Ohio State (+36) — 295-297-308
26. Purdue (+42) — 303-304-299
27. Ole Miss (+43) — 301-303-303
28. UNLV (+46) — 310-301-299
28. CSU Fullerton (+46) — 308-301-301
30. Baylor (+47) — 296-311-304