Oct. 1, 2000

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Notre Dame women's golf team finished tied for 13th at the Lady Northern Intercollegiate-the Midwest's annual rotating tournament-after turning in a strong final round on Sunday at the par-72, 5,979-yard University of Minnesota Golf Course.

Notre Dame-which shot 328 and 322 in the first two rounds-saved its best for last, posting a 311 on Sunday to finish tied with Illinois at 961, just three strokes behind Wisconsin and four back of Ohio University.

Irish senior captain Shane Smith bounced back from her second-round 83 by closing with a 76 for a team-best 236 total. Freshman Shannon Byrne (78-240) turned in another solid showing, as did her classmate Rebecca Rogers (80-243). Another Irish freshman, Jeanne Murphy, rebounded from a pair of 86s in the first two rounds by posting a 77 for a 249 total. Sophomore Priscilla Ro (251) and junior Kristin McMurtrie (256) both closed with 85s to round out the Irish contingent.

Ohio State (288-896) claimed a nine-stroke victory over runner-up Purdue (295-905) while OSU's Mollie Fankhauser (73-218) took the medalist honors, with a three-stroke cushion over Indiana's Natalie Tucker (73-221).

TEAM STANDINGS (36 of 54 holes):

1.  Ohio State 310-298-288/896
2.  Purdue 309-301-295/905
3.  Minnesota 312-302-294/908
4.  Kent State 311-304-294/909
5.  Northwestern 314-299-297/910
    Michigan State 321-298-291/910
7.  Indiana 314-302-306/922
8.  Michigan 315-308-300/923
9.  Penn State 322-313-308/943
10. Iowa 324-315-314/953
11. Ohio 331-309-317/957
12. Wisconsin 334-312-312/958
13. Notre Dame 328-322-311/961
    Illinois 323-321-317/961
15. Northern Iowa 332-319-330/981
16. Illinois State 335-321-329/985

TOP INDIVIDUALS (of 96): 1. Mollie Fankhauser (OSU) 73-72-73/218, 2. Natalie Tucker (IND) 76-72-73/221, 3. Allison Hanna (OSU) 80-74-69/223, 4. Martina Gillen (KENT) 78-74-72/224, Cindy Cannon (MINN) 78-73-73/224, 6. Kari Damron (PUR) 75-77-74/226, Kasey Gant (MSU) 79-72-75/226, Emily Bastel (MSU) 80-73-73/226, 9. Christie Hermes (NW) 78-74-75/227.

NOTRE DAME SCORES: 37. Shane Smith 77-83-76/236, 51. Shannon Byrne 84-78-78/240, 64. Rebecca Rogers 83-80-80/243, 80. Jeanne Murphy 86-86-77/249, 84. Priscilla Ro 85-81-85/251, 91. Kristin McMurtrie 84-87-85/256.