April 7, 2002

BROWNS SUMMIT, N.C.- The University of North Carolina women's golf team finished seventh at the Bryan National Collegiate after a strong performance in the final round on Sunday. UNC moved up from ninth with a three-day-best team score of 298, giving them a tournament total of 908.

Duke University won the event for the second consecutive year and for the third time in the event's five-year history. With a combined team score of 870, the Blue Devils finished 12 strokes in front of second-place Georgia. The Bulldogs leapfrogged Ohio State with a collective third round of 291. Ohio State finished third with Oklahoma State and Furman rounding out the top five. Co-hosts Wake Forest and UNC-Greensboro finished sixth and 16th, respectively.

In individual scoring, Duke's Virada Nirapathpongporn fired a final-round, one-under-par 71 and forced a playoff with Georgia's Angela Jerman.

Nirapathpongporn birdied the second hole of the sudden death playoff to win the individual medal. Candy Hannemann of Duke and Ashley Lowery of Ohio State both shot 215 for the tournament and ended up tied for third, four strokes off the lead. Summer Sirmons of Georgia fininshed fifth.

Carolina's Ashley Prange carded a one-over 73 on Sunday and finished tied for 23rd with a 226 total. Senior Shelley McKevitt ended the tournament tied for 28th, one stroke behind Prange, after a final round of 76. Abby Spector's final round 75 gave her a total of 228 and a share of 32nd place. Junior Meghan Adams and senior Beth Lever also moved up to finish tied for 47th and 67th, respectively.

The three-day, 54-hole tournament, was played at the par-72, 6,064-yard Bryan Park Champions Course.

TEAM STANDINGS (#36 Holes)
  1.	Duke	           287-293-290-870
  2.	Georgia	           293-298-291-882
  3.	Ohio State         289-301-295-885
  4. 	Oklahoma State	   296-296-302-894
  5.	Furman	           308-303-287-898
  6.	Wake Forest        293-303-305-901
  7.	North Carolina	   306-304-298-908
  8.	N.C. State         304-298-307-909
  9.	Northwestern	   302-312-296-910
        Purdue             299-305-306-910
 11.	Memphis	           298-298-316-912
 12.	Tennessee          304-307-303-914
 13.	Kentucky           312-301-304-917
 14.	UNCW	           305-311-308-924
 15.	Penn State         315-311-309-935
 16.	UNCG	           310-314-318-942
 17.	Louisville         314-323-312-949








TOP INDIVIDUALS (#36 Holes)
1.	V. Nirapthpongporn (Duke)         65-75-71-211 (won in playoff)
2.	Angela Jerman (Georgia)           67-70-74-211
3.	Candy Hannemann (Duke)            74-71-70-215
	Ashley Lowery (Ohio State)        68-76-71-215
5.	Summer Sirmons (Georgia)          70-73-75-218

Carolina's Individuals
T23	Ashley Prange       74-79-73-226
T28	Shelley McKevitt    77-74-76-227
T32	Abby Spector        80-73-75-228
T47	Meghan Adams        79-78-74-231
T67	Beth Lever          76-86-76-238