{"id":696774,"date":"2026-05-27T00:43:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T00:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/696774\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T00:43:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T00:43:10","slug":"womens-golf-run-ends-in-ncaa-match-play-quarterfinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/696774\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s Golf Run Ends in NCAA Match Play Quarterfinals"},"content":{"rendered":"

CARLSBAD, Calif. \u2013 The Duke women’s golf team had its run at the NCAA Championship come to an end Tuesday morning as the seventh-seeded Blue Devils dropped a 3-2 decision to second-seeded Southern California in the quarterfinals of match play at the 6,271-yard, par-72 Omni La Costa Resort & Spa North Course in Carlsbad.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nIn Duke’s sixth appearance in match play at the NCAA Championship, the Blue Devils received victories from Rianne Malixi<\/a> and Katie Li<\/a> in the morning.\u00a0 The Duke duo combined to notch 14 birdies between the two.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nHOW IT HAPPENED <\/p>\n


\n\tDuke jumped out to early leads in the second and fourth matches behind stellar play by Rianne Malixi<\/a> and Katie Li<\/a>.\u00a0
\n\tGoing out second, Malixi was on fire from the start, registering birdies on the first three holes to go 2UP.\u00a0 Both golfers birdied No. 6 and then USC’s Jasmine Koo birdied the seventh hole to cut the match to 1UP in favor of Malixi.\u00a0 A product of Manila, Philippines, Malixi then birdied No. 8, both golfers birdied No. 11 and then Malixi closed the match out with birdies on No. 12 and No. 14.\u00a0 She shot 8-under-par through 14 holes in the match to win 5&4.\u00a0
\n\tKatie Li<\/a> featured an excellent start against Elise Lee as she won the first hole with a par and then stuck her approach on the par-5 second hole to two feet to go 2UP.\u00a0 Li, who is from Basking Ridge, New Jersey, parred No. 5 to go 3UP and birdied No. 6 to take a 4UP lead.\u00a0 After dropping holes No. 8 and No. 9, Li regrouped and birdied No. 10 and No. 12 to go back ahead, 4UP.\u00a0 Li closed the match with her sixth birdie of the day on the 312-yard, par-4 No. 15 to win 5&3.
\n\tGraduate student Andie Smith<\/a> went out first and had a tough match against ninth-ranked Catherine Park.\u00a0 Smith, a product of Hobe Sound, Florida, dropped hole No. 3 to fall behind, but registered her first of four birdies of the morning on No. 4 to pull the match even again.\u00a0 Park won holes No. 5, No. 7 and No. 9 to go 3UP.\u00a0 Smith kept battling with birdies on No. 10 and No. 12, but still was down two holes.\u00a0 Park closed the match with back-to-back birdies on No. 14 and No. 15 for a 5&3 win.\u00a0
\n\tFreshman Avery McCrery<\/a> faced Bailey Shoemaker in the third match.\u00a0 Shoemaker won the first hole, but McCrery birdied the second to get the match tied.\u00a0 After dropping the fourth hole, McCrery once again came back with a birdie on No. 5 to tie the match.\u00a0 Shoemaker parred No. 7 to take a 1UP lead and she never relinquished it the rest of the way.\u00a0 She birdied No. 8 and No. 9, while holing out from the fairway on No. 11 to go 4UP.\u00a0 McCrery, who is from Wilmington, Delaware, ended up dropping a 6&4 decision.\u00a0
\n\tWith the match tied, 2-2, it all came down to Duke’s Anna Ca\u00f1ado Espinal<\/a> and Southern California’s Kylie Chong in the final match of the day.\u00a0 Chong struck first with a par on No. 2 to go 1UP, but Ca\u00f1ado Espinal parred No. 6 to even the match.\u00a0 After hitting the fairway bunker on No. 7, Ca\u00f1ado Espinal suffered a bogey and gave Chong a 1UP lead.\u00a0 Ca\u00f1ado Espinal, a native of Barcelona, Spain, tied the match with a par on No. 10, but suffered a bogey on No. 11 to give Chong a 1UP lead.\u00a0 Chong birdied No. 13 to take a 2UP lead and closed the match on No. 15 with a 4&3 decision.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\u00a0
\nNOTES
\n\u00a0
\n
\n\tRianne Malixi<\/a> totaled a perfect 6-0-0 record in match play during her rookie season.
\n\tKatie Li<\/a> moved to 6-4-2 all-time in match play, including a 3-2-1 ledger in 2025-26.\u00a0
\n\tAndie Smith<\/a> closed her collegiate career with a 10-6-1 mark, while Avery McCrery<\/a> fell to 2-1-0.\u00a0 Anna Ca\u00f1ado Espinal<\/a> dropped to 4-5-0 all-time and 4-2-0 in 2025-26.\u00a0
\n\tIn six match play appearances, Duke and Southern California have met in three of those years.\u00a0 USC has won the last two meetings (2021, 2026).\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\u00a0
\nQUOTES<\/p>\n


\n\t“It was really hard to have things come to an end. It was a fun season, especially this spring.\u00a0 Everyone contributed throughout the season. Andie [Smith], in particular, has been a great leader. I was really happy for her that she played so well here at nationals.”\u00a0 — Duke head coach Dan Brooks<\/a> <\/p>\n

\u00a0
\nTo stay up to date with Blue Devils women’s golf, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching “DukeWGOLF”.
\n\u00a0
\n#GoDuke
\n\u00a0
\n#2 Southern California 3, #7 Duke 2
\nCatherine Park (USC) def. Andie Smith<\/a> (DU) 5&3
\nRianne Malixi<\/a> (DU) def. Jasmine Koo (USC) 5&4
\nBailey Shoemaker (USC) def. Avery McCrery<\/a> (DU) 6&4
\nKatie Li<\/a> (DU) def. Elise Lee (USC) 5&3
\nAnna Ca\u00f1ado Espinal<\/a> (DU) def. Kylie Chong (USC) 4&3
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CARLSBAD, Calif. \u2013 The Duke women’s golf team had its run at the NCAA Championship come to an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":696775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-696774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/696775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=696774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}