POINT CLEAR, Ala. — Highlighted by a second-round 73 from top individual finisher
Layla Meric, App State Women's Golf matched its seed by placing 12th on Wednesday to conclude the stroke play portion of the Sun Belt Championship tournament.
The top four teams advanced to the final day, as No. 1 Texas State will face No. 4 Old Dominion and No. 2 Georgia Southern will meet No. 3 ULM in match play semifinals Thursday.
Improving their team total by 19 strokes from a year ago, the Mountaineers competed at the Lakewood Golf Club with three of their five players making their Sun Belt Championship debuts for first-year head coach
Brittany Dabule. The 13-team field included seven teams with a first-place tournament finish during the 2023-24 regular season.
App State had an 81-over total (316-309-320—945) on the par-72 layout after entering the final round just four strokes behind 11th-place Troy.
Meric tied for 43rd place at 18 over (81-73-80—234) on the strength of a Tuesday performance in which she recorded the fifth-best round of the day. It included two birdies and 11 pars over her first 14 holes.
Meric ranked among the event leaders with 34 pars over 54 holes.
Jacquelyn Taylor ranked second on the team by finishing 51st at 21 over (77-78-82—237), while redshirt freshman
Sara Adams was next by placing 52nd at 22 over (77-80-81—238). True freshmen
Makena Dubois had the best final round on the team en route to a 55th-place finish at 27 over (81-84-78—243), while classmate
Ona Lukes placed 57th at 30 over (87-78-81—246). Lukes had a team-best seven birdies in the tournament, followed by Adams with six.
Texas State completed 54 holes of stroke play at 3 under, putting it 16 shots ahead of second-place Georgia Southern. The individual medalist, Texas State's Hailey Jones at 5 under, was one of just three players with an under-par total through 54 holes.
The 2024 spring season was presented by Hound Ears Club.
Semifinals and Championship – Thursday, April 18
7:30 a.m. CT semifinals, followed by final match
