NCAA Championship Awaits Hoosiers in Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – The Indiana women's golf team will be making it's 11^th all-time appearance at the NCAA Championship starting with Friday's first round at Blessings Golf Club, the home course for the University of Arkansas, the host institution.

IU advanced to the NCAA Championship after finishing sixth at the NCAA East Lansing Regional.

The last time the Hoosiers made an appearance at the NCAA Championship was 2007, where they finished 24^th. That team included current associate head coach Lauren Harling.

The 24-team field will play 18 holes of stroke play on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. After 54 holes, the field is cut down to the top 15 teams who then play another round of stroke play on Monday to determine the individual national champion. The top 8 teams after 72 holes move on to the match play portion of the championship.

The match play portion begins with the quarterfinals and semifinals on Tuesday followed by the championship match on Wednesday.

For Friday's opening round, Indiana will tee off of No. 1 at 8:21 a.m. (CT) with Tennessee and Central Florida.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Blessings Golf Club
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Par 73 • 6,473 yards
Live Scoring
TV Coverage: Golf Channel (Monday-Wednesday)

PARTICIPATING TEAMS (in order of updated Golfstat ranking):
Southern California (1)
Texas (2)
Duke (3)
Arizona (4)
Kent State (5)
Wake Forest (6)
Stanford (7)
Vanderbilt (8)
Florida State (9)
Arkansas (10)
Florida (11)
Auburn (13)
Arizona State (14)
UCLA (15)
Northwestern (16)
Virginia (17)
Washington (18)
Illinois (20)
Purdue (22)
San Jose State (23)
Ole Miss (30)
Tennessee (36)
UCF (43)
Indiana (52)

INDIANA LINEUP
The Indiana lineup this weekend looks like this:

1) Erin Harper (Sr.; 73.17)
2) Kari Bellville (R-Sr.; 74.50)
3) Priscilla Schmid (So.; 75.04)
4) Alexis Miestowski (Fr.; 73.69)
5) Mary Parsons (So.; 73.69)

Alternate) Angela Aung (So.; 76.17)
**Teams are permitted to substitute a player into the lineup prior to the start of a round. The player that is subbed out may re-enter the lineup after sitting out one complete round.

(career scoring average)
View Team Stats

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE
Senior Erin Harper will be making her second straight appearance at the NCAA Championship after qualifying last season as an individual. Last year at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Harper finished T130 after rounds of 86-82-82.

Head Coach Clint Wallman, who is in his 15^th year leading the Hoosiers, is making his second appearance at the NCAA Championship after guiding IU there in 2007. The Hoosiers would finish 24^th that year.

Associate head coach Lauren Harling was a member of that 2007 team that advanced to the NCAA Championship. She finished tied for 104^th with scores of 80-85-80-77.

NCAA Championship History
Here's a look at how the Hoosiers finished in their 10 appearances in the NCAA Championship:
1985 (11th)
1986 (12th)
1987 (13th)
1990 (11th)
1992 (13th)
1993 (T8th)
1994 (17th)
1995 (5th)
1998 (13th)
2007 (24th)

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.

Following the Big Ten Championship, Harper was named to the All-Tournament team after finishing in third place at 4-under par following a final round 66.

B1G Finish
While the Big Ten Women's Golf Championship was shortened to just 36 holes due to weather, the Hoosiers did not let the weather get them down on their way to a tie for second as a team. It marked the best team finish for IU at the event since 2004.

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.

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. Earlier this season, she qualified to Stage II of LPGA Q-School in Florida. Her 73.17 scoring average for this season leads the Hoosiers and would set a new single-season IU record, topping the previous best set last year by Mary Parsons (73.31). In her last three tournaments, she has posted a T6th at Purdue, a third place at the Big Ten Championships and a tie for 11^th at the NCAA East Lansing Regional. The third place finish was the best by an IU player at the Big Ten tournament since 2004.

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 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 – the first of her career - 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 73.35 scoring average this season ranks second to Harper entering the NCAA Championship.

Miestowski Doesn't Miss
Freshman Alexis Miestowski (miss-TAHW-ski) 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 seven events, highlighted by a third place showing at Briar's Creek and sixth place at the Lady Boilermaker Classic. She also finished T7th at the Alexa Stirling Intercollegiate and T6th at the Westbrook Invitational earlier in the season. Her 73.69 scoring average this season is tied for second on the team.

Bellville's Back
Graduate transfer Kari Bellville recorded her three best individual finishes in over three years with a T14 at Briar's Creek, a T13 at the Lady Boilermaker and a T18 finish at the Big Ten Championship. Her previous best was 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 and she also opened the Big Ten Championship with a 71, to tie for the lead after 18 holes. She was also in third place after 18 holes at the NCAA East Lansing Regional, where she would go on to finish T19. Her scoring average of 74.50 so far this season is two strokes better than her previous single-season best of 76.80 set back in 2015-16.

Surging Schmid
Sophomore Priscilla Schmid has played some of her best golf of the season over the past month and is rounding into form ahead of the NCAA Championship. In her last 11 rounds, 10 of them have seen scores of 76 or better. At the Lady Boilermaker Classic, she finished third at 1-under par with scores of 71-72. At the NCAA East Lansing Regional, her second round 74 was the best round of the day for the Hoosiers and she went on to finish in a tie for 27^th.

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.

Tournament 10 Recap – Big Ten Championship
The Hoosiers earned a tie for second place in the event that was shortened to 36 holes due to weather. It was the team's best showing at the Big Ten Championship since 2004. The top individual performance came from senior Erin Harper, who finished in third place after a final round 66 to tie the IU single-round record - also the best finish by an IU individual at the conference tournament since 2004. Sophomore Mary Parsons finished in a tie for 11th at 1-over par and graduate student Kari Bellville tied for 18th at 2-over par. Bellville was tied for the individual lead after a 71 in the opening round in very difficult conditions.

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Players Mentioned

Angela Aung

Kari Bellville

Erin Harper

Alix Kong

Alexis Miestowski

Mary Parsons

Priscilla Schmid

Indiana University Athletics