No. 24 Tech Climbs to Third Place Finish in Georgia

Monday, March 27

Kennesaw, GA

All Day

Texas Tech Athletics

Henssler Financial Intercollegiate

No. 24 Tech Climbs to Third Place Finish in Georgia

March 28, 2017 | Women's Golf

Final Results Follow @TexasTechWGolf on Twitter Like the Lady Raiders on Facebook

No. 24 Texas Tech moves up four spots Tuesday to finish third at the Henssler Financial Intercollegiate

By: Texas Tech Athletics Communications

LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 24 Texas Tech used a flurry of birdies Tuesday to climb the leaderboard and finish third at the Henssler Financial Intercollegiate held at the Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw, Georgia.

The Lady Raiders, who entered the final round in a tie for seventh overall, finished two strokes back of team champion Kent State and one back of second-place Purdue after firing an even-par 288 card Tuesday. Tech concluded the 54-hole tournament with a 14-over-par 878 final score.

"I'm really proud of the way the team played today," Tech head coach JoJo Robertson said. "It was a great comeback and we just ran out of holes in the end. What a day! It was definitely fun to watch."

Tech combined for 17 birdies over the final round, seven of which that came from freshman Sofia Garcia alone. The Lady Raiders' even-par card was easily the lowest among the 14-team field Tuesday as the next-lowest score came from fifth-place Augusta, which was 5-over over the final 18 holes.

Garcia posted Tech's lowest round on the day with a 2-under 70 that moved her into a tie for fourth individually, the highest finish of her still young career. Garcia briefly held the individual lead during the back nine before a pair of late bogeys left her two strokes back of medalists August Kim of Purdue and Pimnipa Panthong of Kent State.

It is the second top-five finish for Garcia already this season as she closed the Betsy Rawls Invitational in a tie for fifth overall this past October. She has now recorded a pair of top-20 finishes in Tech's last two tournaments after closing the Briar's Creek Invitational in a tie for 18th a week ago.

In addition to Garcia, Tech was able to string together three other solid rounds from Gabby Barker, Cara Barker and Lauren Mason en route to its lowest 18-hole score since shooting a 3-under 285 during the final round of the Betsy Rawls Invitational.

Gabby Barker was even over the final 18 holes to move into a tie for 32nd overall at 9-over for the tournament. Mason and Cara Barker, meanwhile, fired 1-over cards to push Mason into a tie for 23rd and Barker into a tie for 29th, her second-highest finish this season.

Mami Yamamoto, who helped lead Tech with a combined 3-over score Monday, dropped into a tie for 61st after a 12-over final round. Both of her opening two rounds counted towards Tech's team total.

The Lady Raiders will take just under two weeks off before taking part in the Silverado Showdown on April 9-11, their final tournament before the Big 12 Championships. The three-day event will take place at the Silverado Resort North Course in Napa, California.