May 8, 2010
Final Results 
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Photo Gallery
COLUMBUS, Ind. - The No. 7 Purdue women's golf team rebounded from a tough second round to shoot a 308 on Saturday, matching Arizona State for the second-lowest score of the day. The Boilermakers finished third with a three-round total of 931 at the NCAA Central Regional in Columbus, Ind., and is one of eight teams from the Central regional to advance to the NCAA finals.
No. 2 seed Southern California (299-304-304=907) won the regional and top-seed Arizona State (297-310-308=915) finished in second place. New Mexico (936/+72), Oklahoma State (937/+73), Florida State (939/+75), Oregon (939/+75) and Kent State (940/+76) will also advance to the NCAA Championships, while Georgia's Marta Silva Zamora (3rd-223/+7) and Denver's Kimberly Kim (11th-229/+13) qualified as individuals.
Kent State's Martina Gavier took home medalist honors with a score of 219 (72-75-72, +3). Junior Thea Hoffmeister was the top-finisher for the Boilermakers. She tied for fourth with a three-round total of 226 (70-81-75, +10).
"We did what we had to do to successfully advance," Purdue head coach Devon Brouse said. "I think the course played the toughest of the three days today, so to have a solid round on a tough day is important. Yesterday was a tough day as well (Purdue shot 32-over par), but the round got away from us. Both our first two rounds we weren't ready to play, we weren't ready to compete, we weren't ready to win this week. Without Thea's 70 in the first round, which was a great round, we're really not in that good of shape going into the last day. Thank goodness she did that, but hopefully the first two days of the regional will be a wake up call for this team to show them that if they're going to compete against the top teams, they're going to have to prepare better."
Saturday's conditions were tough at the par-72, 6,416-yard Otter Creek Golf Course. Temperatures were in the low-40s much of the day, with gusting winds.
The Boilermakers are advancing to their 11th-consecutive NCAA Championships which this year will be held May 18 to 21 at the Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, N.C. Purdue is one of only four schools to advance to the NCAA finals each of the last 11 seasons.
"Eleven-straight nationals, that's something to be proud of for the program," Brouse said. "It's something that I'm proud of. I look at the other three teams that have done that, Duke, Southern California and Arizona State, they're all going back to nationals this year so we're just not going to lose step to them and we're going to keep going."
Junior Numa Gulyanamitta recorded a 76 on Saturday and tied for 26th with a score of 234. Maude-Aimee LeBlanc tied for 35th after firing a 78 in the third round for a 236.
Freshman Laura Gonzalez-Escallon, the Big Ten Championships medalist, carded an 80 on Saturday and with a total of 237 tied for 38th. Freshman Paula Reto shot her best score of the tournament with a 79 and tied for 50th with a 239.
"I don't think there are going to be a lot of people that are going to make us one of the favorites, but I'm optimistic because potentially we have the talent to do something," Brouse said, "If we can get them ready, get them confident and focused I think we can compete with anybody in the country."
Check out purduesports.com for more information on the 2010 NCAA Championships. Full results of the NCAA Central Regional are above.