Duke Women Hold Off Mighty USC; Chen Wins Individual Title
/Julie Williams does a nice job coveying how thrilling and yet uncertain the NCAA women's championship appeard down the stretch as Duke held off USC by just two strokes in the final stroke play Division I title chase. Next year the women adopt the same stroke/match play format used by the men.
It seemed fitting that, in the last year stroke play will be used for this championship, the back nine became a horse race. Gaston stopped hitting refresh on live scoring and started looking at standards. It was like man-to-man defense.
By the time the day was down to nine holes, Duke head coach Dan Brooks had tried to engage every Duke fan he could see in the crowd. The Blue Devils got a good vibe from that support group, and counted only two bogeys on the back nine. Every player finished that side at even or better. Seniors Alejandra Cangrejo and Laetitia Beck came in with rounds of 2-under 68. Two groups later, freshman Sandy Choi 69. The rest of the field gravitated toward No. 18, waiting for the finale.
“It is hard to describe what it feels like,” Cangrejo said. “I was dying. I was the first one to finish.”
Beth Ann Nichols tells the heartwarming story of individual champ Doris Chen of USC, whose mother Yuh-Guey Lin was able to see her daughter win even after surviving Stage 3 lung cancer (never a smoker).
