ORLANDO, Fla. – Led by freshman Jessica Rathbone's two-day, three-round, 17-over-par 233, No. 6-ranked Anderson finished seventh, Tuesday at the 45th Annual Peggy Kirk Bell Women's Golf Memorial Invitational.
Rollins College hosted the two-day, 54-hole event on a par 72, 6,209 yard Orange Tree Golf Club layout.
"Tougher pins today caused scores to go up again," said Anderson Head Coach Danny Neal. "Our ladies shot the third-lowest score posted today. Even with the elevated scores, I was pleased with our girls' effort. For the most part, they kept a positive attitude while dealing with very difficult conditions. We have a week and a half to recover and prepare for our final regular season match at Lander's tournament."
Among a 12-team field that included nine top-25 teams, nationally top-ranked Dallas Baptist defended its title, with the Patriots making it eight straight team titles stretching back into last year's shortened season. DBU finished a comfortable 28 strokes in front of runner-up and nationally third-ranked Lynn, with host and 20th-ranked Rollins six strokes further back in third place.
No. 17 Tampa held onto the fourth spot, with fifth-ranked Florida Southern and No. 15 North Georgia sharing fifth place. The Nighthawks jumped three spots from eighth place following Monday's second round after trimming 18 strokes from their second-round total. Anderson stayed steady in the seventh slot, with three-time tournament winner Nova Southeastern finishing two shots further back in eighth place. No. 22 Lee, Embry-Riddle, Palm Beach Atlantic and Eckerd finished out the field.
Tampa's Kiira Riihijarvi (74-73-80 = 227) claimed individual medalist honors by two shots over Rollins' Katharina Hesse, who moved up from sixth place during Tuesday's final round.
Rathbone finished alone in ninth place, with fellow freshman Riley Mayhew leaping all the way from a share of 30th place on Monday into a tie for 15th at the conclusion of the tourney behind a 4-over-par 76 in the third round – which equaled the third-best round of the day.
Junior Victoria Hall jumped 13 spots into a four-way tie for 23rd, while senior Anna Freeman finished in a tie for 28th place. Classmate Kerington Lamb moved up 10 spots and finished in a tie for 32nd, with sophomore Emma Charles finishing 42nd.
Following a two-week layoff, The Trojans will get back on the links, March 29-30, at Lander's Bearcat Classic, which will be hosted at the Stoney Point Golf Club in Greenwood.
