Nebraska women’s golf added a back-to-back top four finish to its resume in the early part of the spring campaign with a fourth-place finish at the Westbrook Invitational in Peoria, Arizona, from Feb. 22-23.
Coming into the invitational, the Huskers faced a tall task of battling four top-40 schools. However, they were still able to combine for a 26-under team total, finishing one shot shy of a podium position. While Missouri captured the team title at 37-under, followed by Arizona (35-under), and Kansas State (27-under), the Huskers were able to sneak past No. 37-ranked Kansas (24-under) with a strong 16-under finish in the third round.
Balanced scoring keeps Nebraska in contention
Nebraska’s performance was defined by its depth, a theme that is beginning to take over as opposed to its previous fall invitationals. Four Huskers finished even par or better, including three of them placing within the top 20.
Freshman Ailis Tribolet led the lineup, tying for sixth at 9-under after closing with a final-round 69. Her stellar play highlighted an eagle on hole eight in round one, along with her two sub-70 rounds that kept her within the top 10 for much of the early week matchup.
Right alongside her was fellow freshman Kaleigh Babineaux, who also tied for sixth at 9-under. Following back-to-back rounds of 70, she delivered one of the most impressive third-round performances on Monday with a 67. Her spark helped aid Nebraska’s late push and provided critical separation in a tightly packed leaderboard.
Just behind the two rookies was junior Hannah Kono, who helped push the Huskers into the fourth place finish by tying for 16th at 6-under. Kono avoided going over by more than 71 in the two opening rounds and nailed a sub-70 third round of 68, racking up four birdies on holes eight, nine, 14 and 18.
Following the pack, senior Lauren Thiele rounded out the Huskers’ scoring group, going even and delivering a closing 68 thanks to six birdies in round three that helped stabilize Nebraska during the final stretch as scoring conditions tightened. Behind her, sophomore Symran Shah finished at 4-over, while Olivia Lovegrove competed individually and carded 8-over across the three rounds.
Final round pushes Nebraska into top four
The Huskers opened the invitational with a steady opening round that immediately placed it in the mix near the top of the leaderboard with over 20 birdies as a team, which allowed Nebraska to keep pace throughout the early week invitational. While they sat within striking distance entering Monday, the Huskers delivered an invitational second-best team showing in the third round with a 16-under masterpiece, only bested by one the invitational champions, Missouri.
That late push across the lineup and multiple back-to-back birdie stretches were just another example of the clutch factor that has started to shape the Huskers this spring.
The fourth-place finish gives Nebraska back-to-back top-four results to open the spring and continues to highlight the progress the group has made since the fall season. With depth driving the scoring and confidence building each week, the Huskers leave Arizona with momentum firmly on their side heading into the next stretch of the schedule.