Purdue women's golf finishes fifth at Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Golf Championship

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - After a day off due to heavy rain and hail, the 10th-ranked Purdue women's golf team moved into fifth place at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Golf Championship in New Orleans by firing a 296 in the second and final round.

The Boilermakers finished 11 strokes behind the leaders with a two-round total of 591.

Top-ranked Southern California defeated No. 23 UCLA in a one-hole playoff to take home the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Golf Championship for the second time in three years. The teams completed regulation play tied at 580. No. 3 Duke was third with a team score of 583 and the host school, No. 29 Tulane was fourth at 589.

Baylor's Hayley Davis won the individual medal by carding a second-round low score of 68 to finish with a four-under par 140 (72-68).

Strong rounds by seniors Laura Gonzalez-Escallon and Kishi Sinha helped the Boilermakers move up the leaderboard on Tuesday. Gonzalez-Escallon shot a two-under par 70 to finish tied for 11th with a total score of 145. She was one of only four golfers to record a round under par in the final round. Sinha carded a one-over par 73 for the second straight round to finish just one stroke behind Gonzalez-Escallon at 146 and a tie for 13th.

Senior Paula Reto shot a 75 on Tuesday to tie with teammates Margaux Vanmol and Aurora Kan and six others for 51st. Reto, who had been Purdue's low golfer in four tournaments this season, opened play with a 78 to record a 153. Vanmol shot an even par 72 on Sunday, but fired an 81 in the difficult conditions fo her 153. Kan was the opposite of Reto, opening with a 75 and shooting a 78 on Tuesday for a 153 total.

The Boilermakers will play host to the Purdue Mount Vintage Invitational at the Mount Vintage Plantation Golf Club in North Augusta, S.C., on March 9 and 10. The six team tournament was added after the Landfall Tradition was shortened to just one round due to Hurricane Sandy. Georgia Regents University (formerly Augusta State), Iowa State, Delaware, IUPUI and Coastal Carolina are set to compete in the two-day 54-hole tournament.