The Valparaiso University women's golf team closed out the fall season on Tuesday with one of the best 36-hole tournament performances in program history, capturing a top-6 finish on the team leaderboard at Evansville's Braun Intercollegiate, held at the par-72, 6101-yard Oak Meadow Golf Club in Evansville, Ind. Senior Keira Cotter (Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada / Guelph [Lake Superior State]) turned in a top-10 finish, posting Valpo's best 36-hole tournament score in a decade.
 
How It Happened

• Cotter made a six-stroke improvement from Round 1 to Round 2, turning in a 73 (+1) on Tuesday to jump 10 spots on the player leaderboard. With a 36-hole tournament score of 152 (+8), she placed ninth of 73. Cotter had three birdies in the round and was par or better on 15 of 18 holes.
• Cotter's 152 tied for the seventh-best 36-hole tournament in program history. She recorded the program's best 36-hole tournament score since Angie Kim also used 152 strokes at the Braun Intercollegiate in October 2016. In relation to par, Cotter's +8 is tied for sixth in program history for a 36-hole event and is the team's best since Kim's aforementioned showing a decade ago.
• Freshman Olivia Bailey (Rochester, Ind. / Rochester Community) zipped eight spots up the leaderboard on Tuesday by carding a 77 (+5) to finish tied for 19^th at 157 (+13). She had a four-birdie round to close out her fall campaign.
• Sophomore Nora Meek (Beavercreek, Ohio / Beavercreek) tied for the team's second-best Round-2 score and was third on the team for the tournament. She stroked a 5-over 77 on Tuesday to vault 13 spots on the leaderboard into t-28 with a 15-over 159 for the event.
• As a team, Valpo placed sixth of 11, beating Southern Indiana, Eastern Illinois, host Evansville, Tennessee State and John A. Logan. The Beacons were at 628 (+52) for the tournament after an eight-stroke improvement to 310 (+22) on Tuesday.
• The 628 ranks tied for fifth in program history in 36-hole tournament score with last spring's Indiana State Spring Invitational. The +52 ranks tied for third in program history for 36-hole tournament score with the aforementioned event in Terre Haute.
• Southern Illinois took the team title at 608, while Indiana's individual Ava Bunker secured medalist honors with a score of 146.

Thoughts from Head Coach Jill McCoy
"We had a lot of ups and downs this season. I'm proud of the team for moving us up the scoreboard this fall. We're looking forward to keeping the momentum going next spring!"
 
Up Next
The spring season will get underway on Monday, March 8 as the Beacons compete in the Lady Bison Spring Invitational at Hawkstone Country Club in Gainesville, Fla.