Indiana Set To Take on TPC River's Bend at Big Ten Women's Golf Championship

MAINEVILLE, Ohio – For the third straight year, the Big Ten Women's Golf Championship will be played at TPC River's Bend just outside Cincinnati and Indiana is playing to keep their name among the teams in the hunt for an at large berth in the NCAA Championship.

The 3-day tournament starts Friday and runs through Sunday with teams scheduled to play 18 holes each day.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
TPC River's Bend
Maineville, Ohio
Par 72 • 6,357 yards
Live Scoring

TEAMS COMPETING (14 – Golfstat rankings)
Northwestern (16)
Michigan State (19)
Illinois (30)
Purdue (33)
Penn State (49)
Maryland (50)
Indiana (56)
Ohio State (57)
Michigan (69)
Rutgers (83)
Nebraska (88)
Wisconsin (90)
Minnesota (108)
Iowa (126)

INDIANA LINEUP
The Indiana lineup this weekend looks like this:

1) Mary Parsons (So.; 73.36)
2) Priscilla Schmid (So.; 74.46)
3) Alexis Miestowski (Fr.; 73.50)
4) Erin Harper (Sr.; 74.24)
5) Kari Bellville (R-Sr.; 76.78)
6) Angela Aung (So.; 76.89)

(career scoring average)
View Team Stats

A Glance at the GolfStat Rankings
Indiana enters play this week ranked No. 59 in the latest Golfstat rankings. Individually, Alexis Miestowski is ranked 197^th and Erin Harper is ranked 210^th.

History at TPC River's Bend
With this being the third year the tournament has been hosted at TPC River's Bend, here's a look at how those in the IU lineup this week have fared in previous seasons:

Erin Harper
2017: T25 (228; 77-75-76)
2018: T22 (219; 76-70-73)

Priscilla Schmid
2018: T15 (216; 75-70-71)

Mary Parsons
2018: T43 (226; 75-73-78)

Team Finish
2017: 13^th (946)
2018: T9th (889)

B1G Accolades for Harper, Parsons
Senior Erin Harper collected Big Ten Golfer of the Week honors on Feb. 13 after a T13 finish at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic. It was the first weekly honor in Harper's career and the first for an IU golfer since Alix Kong on Nov. 1, 2017.

Mary Parsons was named conference player of the week, the first of her career, on April 17 after she won the rain-shortened Lady Boilermaker Classic with a 36-hole score of 136, which set a new IU record. In her second round, her 66 matched her own IU record for an 18-hole score.

Trophy Time at Purdue
At the Lady Boilermaker Classic, the Hoosiers were able to come away with their first team championship since 2017. They topped rival Purdue by eight shots to win the team championship while Mary Parsons won the individual title by six shots, her first collegiate title. The 6-team tournament was cut short when inclement weather forced the final round to be cancelled.

Parsons is Producing
To say sophomore Mary Parsons is getting back into the swing of things after a difficult start to the 2018-19 season would be an understatement. She finished T49 at the Mary Fossum Invitational in her first appearance of the season. But followed that up with a runner-up showing at the Butler Fall Invitational and then rebounded with a T20 finish at Medinah and then a T5 finish at the Alexa Stirling Intercollegiate. At Briar's Creek, she was steady with rounds of 71-73-73 to tie for 14^th. Then she captured the Lady Boilermaker Classic title with a 36-hole score of 136, a new IU record. Her second round 66 also matched the IU record she set as a freshman. As a freshman, she led the Hoosiers with a scoring average of 73.31. Her 73.42 scoring average leads the team heading into the Big Ten Championship.

Harper Among the Best in the Nation
Erin Harper has continued to prove that she is among the top golfers in the country. She qualified for the NCAA Madison Regional last year as a junior and then advanced on to the NCAA Championships in Stillwater, Oklahoma as well. Most recently, she qualified to Stage II of LPGA Q-School in Florida. Her 73.50 scoring average for this season is second-best on the team. Harper's career scoring average of 74.24 would be good for second in IU history.

Miestowski Doesn't Miss
Freshman Alexis Miestowski (MISS-tahw-skee) has had a stellar start to collegiate career and continues to get better as the spring schedule has progressed. She has recorded Top 10 finishes in four of her last six events and is coming off a third place showing at Briar's Creek and a sixth place showing at the Lady Boilermaker. She also finished T7th at the Alexa Stirling Intercollegiate and T6th at the Westbrook Invitational earlier in the season. Her 73.50 scoring average this season is third-best on the team.

Bellville's Back
Graduate transfer Kari Bellville recorded her two best individual finishes in over three years with a T14 at Briar's Creek and a T13 at the Lady Boilermaker. It was her best finish since a T4 showing at the Chip-N Club Invite on Oct. 6, 2015 while competing for Notre Dame. Bellville's opening round 69 at Medinah was just one stroke shy of matching her career best round. Her scoring average of 74.81 so far this season is two strokes better than her previous single-season best of 76.80 set back in 2015-16.

Tournament 1 Recap – Cougar Classic
The Cougar Classic hosted by the College of Charleston was shortened to 36-holes after mandatory evacuations were ordered by the state of South Carolina ahead of Hurricane Florence. Indiana got off to a rocky start in round one but rebounded in round two to finish 16th out of 19 teams. Individually, Erin Harper paced the Hoosiers at 2-under par, which was good for a tie for 22nd. Sophomore Angela Aung and freshman Alexis Miestowski both tied for 48th at 4-over par.

Tournament 2 Recap – Mary Fossum Invitational
After an opening round score of 289 had the Hoosiers in third place at the Mary Fossum Invitational, Indiana would go on to finish eighth with a total score of 892 (+28). Leading the way was senior Erin Harper, who carded rounds of 70-74-72 to tie for sixth place at Even par. Angela Aung joined her in the Top 25 after her score of 222 (71-75-76) put her in a tie for 24th.

Tournament 3 Recap – Illini Invite at Medinah
Indiana brought home a T10 finish out of 15 teams at the Illini Invite at Medinah. The top team finisher was graduate transfer Kari Bellville, who finished tied for 25^th with a score of 216 (69-72-75; E). Mary Parsons, competing as an individual, garnered a T20 placement after rounds of 74-71-70 put her at 1-under par for the tournament.

Tournament 4 Recap – Alexa Stirling Intercollegiate
The Hoosiers finished fourth out of 11 teams at the Alexa Stirling Intercollegiate, with Mary Parsons (T5th) and Alexis Miestowski (T7th) joining Erin Harper (T25) inside the top 25. For Miestowski, it was her best collegiate finish to date while Parsons picked up her second Top 5 finish of the year.

Tournament 5 Recap – Lady Puerto Rico Classic
The Hoosiers opened the spring with a 12^th place finish at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, which featured eight teams ranked inside the Top 50 in the country. IU was led by senior Erin Harper, who finished in a tie for 13^th, her second Top 15 result of the year and the 12^th of her career. She would go on to win Big Ten Player of the Week honors for her efforts.

Tournament 6 Recap – Westbrook Invitational
Freshman Alexis Miestowski led the Hoosiers to a T11 finish at the Westbrook Invitational, as she posted rounds of 69-70-72 to tie for 6^th place – her best finish of the season to date. Priscilla Schmid joined Miestowski in the Top 25 as she tied for 21^st with scores of 74-72-71.

Tournament 7 Recap – Briar's Creek Invitational
In a field that featured seven teams ranked in the Top 50, the Hoosiers got outstanding performances from Alexis Miestowski (3^rd), Kari Bellville (T14) and Mary Parsons (T14). As a team, IU finished second place at Even par for the tournament to pick up wins over six top 50 teams.

Tournament 8 Recap – Clemson Invitational
The Hoosiers had their second tournament of the year cut short – to 36 holes – due to weather, and the second time in the state of South Carolina. Indiana finished 15^th out of the 18 teams with Alexis Miestowski and Priscilla Schmid leading the way in a tie for 41st at 2-over par. Miestowski's second round 67 was one shot off the school record for 18 holes.

Tournament 9 Recap – Lady Boilermaker Classic
When rain wiped out the final round, the scores reverted back to the standings after round two and the Hoosiers were in first place by eight shots over Purdue, so the Hoosiers took home the team tournament title. Sophomore Mary Parsons won the individual title, the first of her career, with a 36-hole score of 136 to set a new IU record. Her second round 66 matched her own school record for an 18-hole score. Priscilla Schmid finished in third place and Erin Harper and Alexis Miestowski were both tied for sixth. It was also the first team win for IU since 2017 and the eighth win of head coach Clint Wallman's IU tenure.

Indiana Set To Take on TPC River's Bend at Big Ten Women's Golf Championship

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Players Mentioned

Angela Aung

Kari Bellville

Erin Harper

Alix Kong

Alexis Miestowski

Mary Parsons

Priscilla Schmid