The Pac-10 women's golf championships ended Wednesday in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., and Washington State would like to play in at least one more tournament.
"Our eighth-place finish may be good enough to get us into the NCAA West Regional tournament, so that is what we are hoping for," said WSU coach Walt Williams.
Brooke Henderson, a senior from Richland, carded a total of 23-over-par 236 (78-77-81) to finish tied for 36th. That was third-best among the WSU women, who were led by junior Amy Eneroth's 229 -- good for a tie for 22nd.
Henderson transferred from Eastern Washington and had a solid career at WSU, including earning a second-team All-Pac academic team last season.
The Cougars (313-309-310) moved up one position in the final round to finish in eighth place and ahead of in-state rival No. 47 Washington and No. 58 Oregon State. WSU combined for a three-round total of 932 at the par-71, 6,060-yard Palos Verdes Golf Club. "It's always fun to beat the University of Washington and to come from behind is even better," Williams said.
Washington's program has fallen on tough times since the graduation of Amber Prange (2007) and Yakima's Paige Mackenzie (2006). In fact, in 2006, the Huskies finished sixth in the NCAA Championships. The Cougars' eighth place finish matches their mark at last year's Pac-10 tournament.
Southern California ran off with the team title. The winning total of 8-over 860 was 26 strokes better than UCLA. Paola Morena of USC was medalist at 1-under 212, four strokes better than Arizona State's Anna Nordqvist.
Morena is from Colombia. Nordqvist is Swedish. The three who tied for third are Tiffany Joh (UCLA, born in Philadelphia to Korean parents), Belen Mozo of USC (a native of Spain), and teammate Dewi Claire Schreefel is from The Netherlands.