COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women's Golf fell in the quarterfinals of match play at the 2018 SEC Tournament in Birmingham, Alabama. The Tigers had advanced to match play for the first time in program history entering Saturday.
Mizzou faced the top-seed South Carolina Gamecocks and fell 3-0-2, but battled neck-and-neck with the league's best throughout the day at the Greystone Golf and Country Club.
"We got off to a shaky start this morning, but we absolutely battled back on our second nine holes," head coach Stephanie Priesmeyer said. "It was so fun to watch our players chip away at the lead South Carolina built and we were able to put the pressure back on them late in the round."
Sophomore Jessica Yuen took on the SEC individual champion Ainhoa Ollara. Yuen was all square through 18 holes and took the champion to the brink before falling on the 20th hole.
Junior Emma Allen chipped in from the rough on Hole 15 and used the miraculous shot as a springboard to remain all square with her opponent after 18 holes. Junior Cayce Hendrickson won holes 15, 17 and 18 to come firing back and make her match all square.
Both Allen and Hendrickson were on the cusp of extra holes to determine winners, but South Carolina clinched points in the two remaining matches to secure the needed 3-of-5 points and advance to the SEC semifinals.
"We had our best finish in the stroke play ever at the SEC Championships and we turned some heads today playing one of the best teams in the country," Priesmeyer said. "We will see if we did enough this season to earn a postseason bid."
Now the Tigers wait to see if they earn a bid to an NCAA Regional. The field will be selected in mid-May.
For all the latest on Mizzou Women's Golf, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @MUWomensGolf.