On Wednesday, Oklahoma State and Ole Miss will meet in the final match to determine the national champion. Since match play was implemented at the 2015 championship, neither team has made the final. In fact, neither team had ever even made the match-play bracket before this year.
Ahead of the final showdown, we took a look at how the two teams stacked up according to the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.
Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss
Lineup
Match 1 – Maja Stark, So. (6th) vs. Kennedy Swann, Sr. (27th)
Match 2 – Isabella Fierro, So. (14th) vs. Andrea Lignell, So. (73rd)
Match 3 – Lianna Bailey, Jr. (79th) vs. Chiara Tamburlini, So. (100th)
Match 4 – Rina Tatematsu, Fr. (48th) vs. Julia Johnson, Sr. (8th)
Match 5 – Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, Fr. (84th) vs. Smilla Sonderby, Fr. (N/R)
Golfweek/Sagarin Team Ranking
Oklahoma State – 7th
Ole Miss – 5th
Common events: Oklahoma State is 1-0 on the year. The Cowgirls won the Heroes Ladies Intercollegiate with Ole Miss placing second in early February. Oklahoma State was 15-under-par while Ole Miss was 13-under.
Quoting Greg Robertson
On getting to this point:
“The worst practice round I have seen, definitely out of this group, but maybe out of any team I have coached. It was awful. Just the mood, nobody was talking.”
“We didn’t know what to expect this week. But you figure through 72 holes if they play solid, they can get through it. And then they just improved every day. The 6-under in the third-round got them going.”
“We get into match play and play a team that shot the best final round (Auburn) and then you have to play the defending national champions (Duke), it hasn’t been an easy road but they have stepped up to the challenge every step of the way.”
On what they need to do in championship match:
“Just continue the energy they are showing. Just go out and beat them, not with your golf, but with your energy. Just go out and play their game. That’s easier said than done when you are playing for a national championship but, keep doing the same thing they have done up to this point.”
This team plays for it all tomorrow.#NCAAGolf I #GolfSchool pic.twitter.com/MhzqwePLuJ
— OSU Cowgirl Golf (@OSUcowgirlgolf) May 26, 2021
Quoting Kory Henkes
On getting to this point:
“Our team just has grit and they fight until the end no matter what. Our team fights for each other and they want to prolong the season. They don’t want to go home. They want to be here.”
“Kennedy Swann’s one request this year to come back as a fifth-year senior was to give me a chance at a national championship. Here we are.”
On what they need to do in championship match:
“Play some great golf. Oklahoma State is a really good team. I have a lot of respect for Greg (Robertson) and Maddi (Swanney) with what they have done at Kent State and Oklahoma State. We played against them in Sarasota and they nudged us by two shots so, we know what they are working with. We need to come out an play our own game and make them make birdies on us.”
Full pairings for tomorrow’s national title matchup vs. Oklahoma State.#NCAAGolf | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/mHuyERycOy
— Ole Miss Women’s Golf (@OleMissWGolf) May 26, 2021