HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE, AR – Lipscomb Women's Golf continued its fall campaign in strong fashion, posting its best finish of the season to date. The Bisons, propelled by an opening round 282 (-6), finished in 6^th at the Diamante Intercollegiate. In addition, the Bisons' Katya Tibbetts finished 7^th overall to give her the first Top-10 finish of her Lipscomb career.  
 
Lipscomb asserted itself as one of the top squads early after shooting a 282 (-6) in the first round, which tied Ball State for third on the leaderboard. Two Bisons finished the round under par, with Katya Tibbetts leading the way after carding a 68 (-4). Casey Yu turned in a 69 (-3) to go along with a 72 (E) from Ava Bankston and a 73 (+1) from Freshman Maria Alcocer. All told, the Bisons finished the first round by racking up 17 birdies and three eagles.

Sitting four strokes ahead of the Bisons with a score of 278 (-10) were the top ranked team in the tournament, Boston College. The Eagles, ranked #65 in the nation, pulled away from the field after following up the first round with a 283 (-5) and 275 (-13) in the second and third rounds, respectively. Rounding out the top five were the Seattle Redhawks (854, -10), Central Arkansas Bears (861, -3), Ball State Cardinals (862, -2) and in-state Memphis Tigers (866, +2). The Bisons finished sixth overall, just three strokes behind the Tigers with an overall score of 869 (+5).

This was a strong field, as ten of the teams in the field were all ranked nationally in the Top 150, including Lipscomb at #135. Of the remaining top 150 teams, Lipscomb posted victories over four including Houston Christian (#96), Cal Baptist (#109), Oral Roberts (#113), and UT Arlington (#130). The Bisons also posted victories over in-state Tennessee Tech (889, +25) and host Little Rock (874, +10). 
 
With a strong opening round including a team high six birdies, Tibbetts turned in the third lowest overall score on day one with a 68 (-4), trailing only eventual champion Frances Kim of Boston College and Claire Swathwood of Memphis, both of whom shot a 66 (-6). Following Tibbetts was teammate Casey Yu, who was one of three different Bisons that turned in an eagle during the opening 18 holes. Yu was sitting at even par heading into her ninth hole of the day, when she eagled the 476-yard par five to put her in red figures. Yu then birdied two of the next three holes en route to her lowest round of the season, posting a 69 (-3). 


Tibbetts led all Bisons, finishing 7^th overall with a total score of 213 (-3). Following her for a tie in 25^th place with a 218 (+2) was Maria Alcocer, who birdied three-straight holes in round two to finish at 69 (-3) on the day. Ava Bankston was the next finisher for Lipscomb, who tied for 44^th. She opened her tournament with a 72 before finishing with a 54-hole score of 221 (+5). 
 
Savannah Howell and Casey Yu rounded out the team scoring for the Bisons. Howell finished with a 225 (75, 80, 70) for a 63^rd place finish, while Yu tied for 77^th with a 228 (69, 78, 71). 
 
Bridget Craig competed as an individual and finished in 48^th place (73, 77, 72). 
 
UP NEXT 
Lipscomb will conclude its fall slate at The Robbie. This annual event, hosted by the Bisons, will take place at Hampton Cove in Huntsville, Alabama from October 31-November 2.