May 11, 2002

Baton Rouge, LA - The University of Memphis Lady Tiger golf team missed qualifying for the NCAA Championship at the University of Washington by four strokes after placing 11th place at the NCAA East Regional in Baton Rouge, LA. The Lady Tigers entered Saturday's final round of competition in 11th place and remained there throughout the final 18-holes.

However, Lady Tiger sophomore Meaghan Francella continued her strong play and finished the three day event tied for fifth place at one under par 215. In doing so, Francella and LSU's Meredith Duncan received individual invitations to the NCAA Championship in Seattle, WA, May 21-24th. This is Francella's second consecutive year to earn an invitation to the championship round of play. She was forced to withdraw from the tournament last year with a back injury.

Duke University won the 2002 East Regional with a team score of 859. Auburn was second at 872, while Wake Forest, Florida and Conference USA member South Florida rounded out the top five. South Carolina, Georgia and Vanderbilt also earned team invitations to the NCAA Championships by placing in the tournaments top eight places.

Leigh Anne Hardin of Duke won medalist honors with a three round score of 210. Memphis's Jennifer Jaszek tied for 28th at with final round 73-222, while Marianne Ruud carded a 75-225 and tied for 45th.

Final round play is slated for Saturday morning.

MEMPHIS INDIVIDUAL SCORES: T5 Meaghan Francella 215 T28 Jennifer Jaszek 222 T45 Marianne Ruud 225 T82 Sandra Hellsvik 236 T97 Abby More 244

TEAM SCORES: 1. Duke 859 2. Auburn 872 3. Wake Forest 875 4. Florida 878 5. South Florida 883 6. South Carolina 889 7. Georgia 892 8. Vanderbilt 893 9. Tulane 894 10. Tennessee 896 11. Memphis 897 12. LSU 898 13. Furman 903 14. North Carolina State 907 15. Central Florida 912 16. North Carolina 916 17. Mississippi State 917 18. Texas A&M 918 19. Alabama 924 20. Yale 967 21. Jackson State 986