AVONDALE, La. | South Alabama women's golf fired a three-round 876 (294-295-289) and held off Dallas Baptist's final round charge as the Jaguars captured team honors Tuesday at the Green Wave Invitational held at TPC Louisiana. The tournament win was the first by the program since the 2022-23 season.

South Alabama entered the final round of play with a two-stroke lead after firing a 587 on day one of the event, and closed out play with a one-over par, 289.

Malia Uyeshiro (71-73-70—214) entered the final round tied for second after carding four birdies over the first two rounds, and in the final round, the senior shot a two-under, 70 to finish in a three-way tie for second.

True freshman Mercedes Aldana – the day-one co-leader after recording an eagle and four birdies on Monday – posted a Top-10 finish on Tuesday as she was seventh, 70-73-76—219 (+3).

Fellow freshmen Katharina Schroll (78-71-74) and Anna Behnsen (75-79-69) also placed inside the Top 15 as they tied for third after carding a seven-over par 223 to tie for 13th. After opening Monday with a 78 in the first round, Schroll bounced back with a one-under par 71 in the second round to move into a tie for 11th and birdied five holes in the round. Behnsen made her move on the final day, climbing up 17 spots with four birdies of her own.

Laura Burch tied for 26th at the event (78-76-76—230 (+14)).

Head Coach Marcelo Huarte 
- On the tournament win and the performance of the players: 
"I'm extremely proud of our ladies. We played solid golf throughout the event and they did a great job of staying focused on the task at hand when things got difficult. We had three freshmen in the Top 15 in their collegiate debuts and Meche (Mercedes Aldana) was leading the event going into the final round. Malia (Uyeshiro) played some impressive golf throughout the entire event. She shot a bogey-free 70 in the final round and was in contention to win from the start.

"We'll celebrate the win and then get back to work in preparation for the Hover Invite next week."

Tournament Information
Event (host): Green Wave Invitational (Tulane)
Dates: September 9 – September 10 (Monday-Tuesday)
Course: TPC Louisiana

Team Scores
(1) South Alabama – 294-293-289—876 (+12), (2) Dallas Baptist – 294-295-289—878 (+14), (3) Troy – 293-302-288—883 (+19), (4) Tulane – 304-296-290—890 (+26), (5) Memphis – 298-296-307—901 (+37), (6) Western Carolina – 310-304-304—918 (+54), (7) Southern Illinois – 307-305-308—920 (+56), (8) Alabama State – 312-311-306—929 (+65)

Individual Leaders
(1) Jordan Fischer (LSU) * 71-72-68—211 (-5), (t-2) Malia Uyeshiro (South Alabama) 71-73-70—214 (-2), (t-2) Laura Fangmeyer (Troy) 73-74-67—214 (-2), (t-2) Ella Cheek (Dallas Baptist) 70-74-70—214 (-2), (5) Nutsanun Khamphueng (Memphis) 73-71-71—215 (-1), (6) Francesca Pompa (Tulane) 79-71-68—218 (+2), (7) Mercedes Aldana (South Alabama) 70-73-76—219 (+3), (t-8) Victoria Stutts (Troy) 73-74-73—220 (+4), (t-8) Madison Ude (Dallas Baptist) 76-69-75—220 (+4), (10) Alyssa Mercado (Troy) 72-76-73—221 (+5)

* - Individual

South Alabama Scores
(t-2) Malia Uyeshiro – 71-73-70—214 (-2), (7) Mercedes Aldana – 70-73-76—219 (+3), (t-13) Katharina Schroll – 78-71-74—223 (+7), (t-13) Anna Behnsen – 75-79-69—223 (+7), (t-25) Laura Burch – 78-76-76—230 (+14)

Up Next
South Alabama continues the fall season next week when it competes at the Hoover Invitational hosted by UAB (September 16-17) at the Hoover Country Club.

Notes
•    As a team, South Alabama finished with 25 (5 first round | 11 second round | 9 third round) birdies and one eagle
•    The tournament win marked the first by the program since taking team honors at the Tchefuncta Invitational on Feb. 28, 2023
•    South now has 24 tournaments won in its program history
•    Monday's two-round total (587) was the lowest after the opening day since the club fired a 583 (291-292) on Oct. 31, 2022 at the Judson
•    The first-round, 71 was the eighth round under par for Uyeshiro and the fourth time in the opening round, and the two-under, 70 was the ninth of her career 
•    The second-place finish marked the sixth Top 10 of Uyeshiro's Jaguar career, and the three-round 214 (-2) was also a new career-best
•    Schroll recorded five of her eight birdies for the tournament in the second round with her best stretch coming where she birdied four of five holes (No. 18, No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4) 
•    Aldana's eagle on No. 13 in the opening round was just one of two in the tournament, and the first by a Jag since Burch recorded a hole-in-one last fall on the 15th hole at Leadership and Golf Invitational held at Chambers Bay on the Chambers Course

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