No. 5 USC Set For NCAA Championships In Sooner State

The No. 5 USC women's golf team, a five-time winner this year and a three-time NCAA champion, featuring a four-freshmen, one-sophomore lineup this spring, has its sights on the program's fourth national crown as gets set to play in the 2018 NCAA Championships, May 18-23, at the Karsten Creek G.C. in Stillwater, Okla.

The Trojans are in their NCAA record 21^st straight NCAA Championships final – all under 22nd-year head coach Andrea Gaston – and are riding a NCAA best current string of 12 straight NCAA top 5 finishes.

For the fourth year in a row, the NCAA women's golf team champion will be decided in a combination of stroke and match play. The 24 teams will compete in 72 holes of stroke play, the top 15 advancing to a final round (May 21), where the individual winner will be determined as well. The top eight teams after 72 holes will be seeded into a match-play format. Quarterfinals and semifinals will be held on May 22 and the final will be May 23.

Golf Channel will provide live coverage of the final stroke play round on May 21 from 1-5 p.m. (PT). It will also cover the May 22 quarterfinals live from 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. (PT), the semifinals that day from 1-5 p.m. (PT) and the final on May 24 from 1-5 p.m. (PT).

USC will open play with Stanford and Duke, teeing off Friday (May 18) at 10:10 a.m. (PT) and on Saturday (May 19) at 5:30 a.m. (PT).

Results will be available at NCAA.com and Golfstat.com.

USC NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
* USC has won three NCAA titles -- spread out five years apart -- in 2003, 2008 and 2013. USC is one of only five schools with at least three NCAA team titles. Arizona State has seven, Duke has six while USC, San Jose State and UCLA have three. The Trojans finished 21 strokes better than Duke in 2013 (the biggest margin at the NCAA Championships since Arizona won by the same amount in 2000), six strokes ahead of UCLA in 2008 and were 15 strokes better than second-place Pepperdine in 2003.
* This is USC's 31st overall NCAA Championship final appearance and 21st in a row, the current streak all coming under 22nd-year head coach Andrea Gaston.
* In addition to winning three titles, the Trojans have finished second five times (2014, 2012, 2010, 2006 and 1994) and also finished third in 2015 and 2017 (tied for third after semifinal losses in match play), 2009 and 1986, fourth in 2007, 2000 and 1987, fifth in 1993 and tied for fifth in 2011 and 2016.
* USC has a national-best streak of 12 straight top 5 finishes. USC's combined 18 NCAA top 5 finishes are tied with conference rival Arizona State for the most nationally and are one ahead of UCLA.
* USC has made it to the NCAA Championships match play bracket each of the last three years since it was instituted, one of just two teams to do so.
* USC is 2-3 in the NCAA match play format since it started three years ago. It beat Washington in the quarterfinals in 2015 before falling to eventual champion Stanford. In 2016, USC fell to Duke in the quarterfinals. In 2017, USC defeated Ohio State in the quarters before losing to Northwestern in the semifinals, 3-2.
* USC recently finished in the top 2 in the stroke play standings four years in a row (2012-2015) before a third in 2016. USC has finished in stroke play top 2 in five of the past eight years, including the NCAA title in 2013 and a first in 2015 – the first season when the champion was decided in the match play format. It has also finished in the top 3 in stroke play in eight of the past 10 years.
* The Trojans' second-place finishes in 2010 (Purdue, one stroke), 2012 (Alabama, one stroke) and 2014 (Duke, two strokes) were by a combined four strokes.
* USC has won five NCAA individual titles, including Jennifer Rosales in 1998, Mikaela Parmlid in 2003 (in a one-hole playoff), Dewi Claire Schreefel in 2006, Annie Park in 2013 and Doris Chen in 2014. The last school to post back-to-back individual titles was Duke in 2001-02. No school has won it three straight years and no player has won it twice.
* USC's five individual titles are second in the NCAA behind only Arizona State. In addition to its five individual champions, USC players have posted 10 other top five finishes. Jennifer Song (2009) was second, Paola Moreno (2007) tied for second, Irene Cho (2003), Candie Kung (2001) and Dana Arnold (1990) all tied for third, Jill McGill (1994) and Belen Mozo (2008) finished fourth, Rosales tied for fourth (1999) and Leila Chartrand (2000) and Song (2010) tied for fifth.
* The NCAA title in 2008 was USC's fourth consecutive tournament win at the time, a then-first in program history.
* USC had five All-Americans in 2008 for the first time in school history (Dewi Claire Schreefel, Paola Moreno, Belen Mozo, Stefanie Endstrasser, Lizette Salas) while all five of USC's finishers at the 2013 NCAAs finished in the top 17.
* Rosales was 9-under par after three rounds in 1998 while Park did the same in 2013, tying for the best score in NCAA Championship history through three rounds with two others.
* USC's best combined round at an NCAA Championships is 270 in the final round in 2014. That score – also a school record – shattered the recently set mark of 276, set in the second round in 2013.
* Troy's best individual round at an NCAA Championships is 65 by Sophia Popov, also carded in the 2014 NCAA Championships final round. The previous best was a 66, carded by Rosales during her title run in 1998.
* The Trojans finished at 19-under 1133 (284-276-285-288) in their 2013 win, shattering the previous NCAA Championship record for most strokes under par, which was previously four (UCLA, 2004).

TROJAN REBOOT
USC's 2017-18 lineup has a new look with four additions to help fill the void with the departures of All-Americans Robynn Ree and Muni He, both of whom turned pro after the fall semester. Ree earned full status on the 2018 LPGA Tour after her top 10 finish at the final stage of Q School in December while He will compete on the Symetra Tour after reaching the Q School final stage as well.

The three returning Trojans from the fall season are sophomore Allisen Corpuz (USC's only player in the program for more than one season), sophomore transfer Divya Manthena and freshman Alyaa Abdulghany.

The trio welcomes a quartet of newcomers in spring-semester freshmen enrollees Jennifer Chang (Cary, N.C.), Amelia Garvey (Christchurch, New Zealand) and Gabi Ruffels (Sandringham, Australia) as well as sophomore transfer Aiko Leong (Honolulu, Hawaii).

Chang, Garvey and Ruffels all made their debut at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge last week, when the Trojans finished 10^th. Leong debuted in San Luis Obispo.

USC has shown the new look can turn in strong results as it finished second at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate before coming together to win its next three tournaments in a row at the Bruin Wave Invitational, the SDSU March Mayhem and the Silverado Showdown.

Overall, USC has posted six consecutive top 3 finishes, including taking second at the 2018 Pac-12 Championships and third at the NCAA Madison Regional.

Sophomore Allisen Corpuz, the only Trojan on the roster last year, has stepped up in a major way as the most veteran player on the team and is second on the current squad in stroke average (73.07) and has turned in six straight top 15 finishes among eight top 17 finishes this year and 10 in the top 26. She put together recent back-to-back ties for fourth, one at 2-under 214 (70-74-70) at the Allstate Sugar Bowl and one at 8-over 224 (73-77-74) at the Bruin Wave. Corpuz followed that by taking single round medalist honors with a USC then-career-best 68 at the SDSU March Mayhem ahead of three straight match play wins. Corpuz tied for 15^th at the Silverado Showdown with a 2-over 218 (78-73-67), lowering her career-best again. Corpuz, who is 4-1 in match play this year, tied for seventh at the Pac-12 Championships at 1-under 215 (69-71-75) to lead the Trojans and tied for 11^th at the NCAA Madison Regional at 1-under 215 (69-72-74).

Freshman Jennifer Chang, after seven events, leads the current crop of Trojans with a stroke average of 72.47 and has posted six straight top 15 results, including her first victory, a tie for first at the Silverado Showdown at 8-under 206 (66-72-70). That complements a pair of top 3 finishes when she tied for second at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate at 3-under 213 (70-69-74) and finished third at the Bruin Wave at 6-over 222 (76-71-75 as well as sixth at the NCAA Madison Regional at 5-under 211 (73-70-68). Chang tied for 15th at the Pac-12 Championships at 4-over 220 (72-76-72). She won two of three matches at the SDSU March Mayhem, including in the title win against Texas. She was among 15 women's golfers on a mid-season version of the ANNIKA Award Watch List.

Freshman Alyaa Abdulghany is third on the squad with a stroke average of 74.00 and has posted six top 19 finishes among her last seven starts and has seven overall. She posted a season-best tie for sixth (in a 54-hole event) at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate at 2-over 218 (74-71-73) before tying for third in the SDSU March Mayhem single round at 1-under 71. She is 2-2-1 in match play, including a win in the SDSU final against Texas.

Freshman Gabi Ruffels, in seven events, boasts a pair of season-best ties for seventh, one at the Bruin Wave at 10-over 226 (76-75-75), and one with the par 72 single round at the March Mayhem. She tied for 20^th at the Pac-12 Championships at 5-over 221 (76-71-74). She also won two of three matches at the SDSU March Mayhem, including a 6&5 semifinal win and a 1up victory in the title win against Texas.

Freshman Amelia Garvey has seen action in five events, highlighted by her tie for third at the SDSU March Mayhem with a 1-under 71 that preceded three 1up match play wins. She tied for 19^th at the Silverado Showdown at 4-over 220 (75-72-73) and tied for 23^rd at the Pac-12 Championships at 6-over 222 (78-72-72). She tied for 30^th at the NCAA Madison Regional at 2-over 218 (70-72-76).

Sophomore Divya Manthena, a first-year transfer, has played in 5 events and started in Trojan victories at the Minnesota Invitational and at the East Lake Cup when she posted a pair of match play wins.

Sophomore Aiko Leong, a 2018 spring semester transfer, has seen action in one spring event early in her Trojan career, helping USC to a win at the Bruin Wave Invitational, posting a tie for 27^th.

FALL SEASON IN SUMMARY
USC won two of three fall events in which it competed at full strength. The Trojans captured their season-opener, taking the Minnesota Invitational at 26-under 838 (282-276-280) for a nine-shot win. The Trojans' 26-under performance was their third-most under par total in a 54-hole tournament. Sophomore Muni He tied for first at 10-under 206 (70-67-69), which is tied for fifth most under par in program history. Junior Robynn Ree tied for third at 8-under 208 (71-68-69).

He, Ree and sophomore Divya Manthena each won matches to give USC a 3-2 victory over Stanford in the East Lake Cup match play final at the East Lake G.C. in Atlanta to close fall play on Nov. 1. That followed a 4-1 win over Northwestern in the semifinals.

Ree led USC at the Annika Intercollegiate with a tie for ninth at 2-under 214 (68-74-72) as the Trojans finished seventh overall. The Trojans were short-handed at the rain-shorthanded Pac-12 Preview in Kona, Hawaii, sending just three players. Sophomore Allisen Corpuz and freshman Alyaa Abdulghany led the trio with a tie for 26^th at 4-over 150.

Manthena Wins Community Award
Manthena was one of two recipients of the 3rd annual Tom Cousins Award announced in conjunction with the East Lake Cup in Atlanta. Manthena and Vanderbilt's Will Gordon were selected by a panel of industry leaders aiming to recognize a male and female collegiate golfer whom best represent the values of the award: exceling in academics, engagement in his or her community, and a demonstrated ability to overcome adversity.

A sophomore business administration major at USC, Manthena (Moorpark, Calif.) is following in the footsteps of family members from generations before her through a commitment to bettering the lives of others, latching on to causes with personal significance to her. The founder of her own non-profit organization, Krishak, she has spearheaded five separate golf outings in the past six years to benefit organizations such as the American Red Cross, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Special Olympics, among others. In 2013, Manthena also was the recipient of the USGA/AJGA Presidents' Leadership Award, which recognizes a male and female junior golfer who demonstrate leadership, character and community service through volunteerism.

PROGRAM SUPERLATIVES
* USC has won 35 events (including ties for first) since the start of the 2012-13 season. In addition to the five wins this season, the Trojans won 3 times in the 2017 season, six times in 2016, five times in 2015, nine in 2014 and seven in 2013.
* USC players have finished first a combined 30 times since the start of the 2010-11 season, including two NCAA titles (and including three single-round stroke play events).
* USC's three-tournament win streak this spring is its longest since winning four in a row in the spring of 2014.
* The Trojans have reached the NCAA Championships finals a national-best 21 straight seasons (including the 2017-198 campaign) and have won NCAA title in 2003, 2008 and 2013.
* The Trojans' second-place finishes in 2010 (Purdue, one stroke), 2012 (Alabama, one stroke) and 2014 (Duke, two strokes) were by a combined four strokes.
* USC has made it to the NCAA Championships match play bracket each of the last three years since it was instituted, one of just two teams to do so.
* USC has finished in the NCAA top 5 a national-best 12 straight years.
* Ten different Trojan players have earned a combined 19 All-American honors in the last 5 years.

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Players Mentioned

Amelia Garvey

Aiko Leong

Divya Manthena

Gabriela Ruffels