Individually, junior Sydney Hackett had a career-day with a 6-under 66 to lead the way. She moved up the leaderboard 21 spots to tie for 25th. Also tying for 25th was senior Catie Craig, thanks to a 2-under 70. The round marked Craig’s 117th and final in her illustrious WKU career.
WKU’s historic season comes to a close as 2025 Conference USA Champions. The Lady Tops became the first team in the program’s 48-year history to win a conference championship and appear at an NCAA Regional. Overall, WKU won four events, setting a new high-water mark in the program’s history.
The five teams advancing to NCAA Championships were No. 3 Florida State, No. 34 Georgia Southern, No. 28 Kansas State, No. 9 USC and No. 22 Vanderbilt. TCU’s Sofia Barroso Sá was the advancing individual.
NOTABLES
- Catie Craig concludes her career with a new school record 73.58 stroke average. She totaled 8,610 strokes in 117 rounds, besting Mary Joiner’s 73.92 record.
- Sydney Hackett’s 6-under 66 marked the best round of her collegiate career to date. She had seven birdies on Wednesday. The 66 was tied for the best round of the day and regional. The 66 was tied for the fifth-best single round in program history.
- Hackett finished the season with a 72.77 scoring average, the third-best in program history.
- Craig finished the season with a 72.86 scoring average, the fourth-best in program history. Her 70.2 scoring average in 2023-24 set the school record.
- Playing in her 40th and final career event, Craig notched her 27th Top-25 finish. In addition to her five wins (second in school history), she finished with 16 Top 5s and 21 Top 10s in 40 events.
- Hackett played the Par 3s at 2-under for the week, tied for fourth-best. Averi Cline played them at 1-under, tied for sixth-best.
- Hackett totaled 12 birdies, tied for fifth-best in the tournament. Seven of them came during Wednesday’s round.
TEAM LEADERBOARD (12 teams)
1. #3 Florida State | 281-281-287—849 (-15)
T2. #34 Georgia Southern | 288-283-283—854 (-10)
T2. #28 Kansas State | 288-288-278—854 (-10)
4. #9 USC | 289-289-279—857 (-7)
5. #22 Vanderbilt | 301-282-283—866 (+2)
— THE TOP FIVE TEAMS ADVANCE TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS —
6. #15 TCU | 292-290-285—867 (+3)
7. #46 Louisville | 293-298-280—871 (+7)
8. Miami | 300-285-289—874 (+10)
9. #40 Pepperdine | 305-284-289—878 (+14)
10. Western Kentucky | 297-302-285—884 (+20)
11. Morehead State | 294-301-293—888 (+24)
12. Fairleigh Dickinson | 315-304-297—916 (+52)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD (66 individuals)
1. Carla Bernat, Kansas State | 70-68-66—204 (-12)
T25. Catie Craig | 72-76-70—218 (+2)
T25. Sydney Hackett | 75-77-66—218 (+2)
T38. Julia Zigrossi | 69-76-78—223 (+7)
T46. Averi Cline | 82-73-71—226 (+10)
63. Kaylee Dwyer | 81-81-78—240 (+24)
QUOTABLE
“I’m extremely proud of the women in this program for all they accomplished this season! While we wish we would’ve played well enough to advance to NCAA Championships this week, we finished with our best round of the tournament today and moved up the leaderboard. It speaks to the resiliency of the team to finish strong and I couldn’t be more proud to be their coach. I’m thrilled for Sydney to cap a championship season with a 66, moving into the Top 25, and what do you say about Catie Craig? An incredible career comes to a close at her third NCAA Regional – with her best finish at any of the three. She will leave WKU with our career scoring average record and five individual wins, the 2023 CUSA title and the 2025 CUSA team title. She will be missed, but we can’t wait to cheer her on as she begins her professional career in a few short weeks.” – head coach Adam Gary
