College Notebook

Duke wins ACC women’s golf championship

Duke didn’t earn its 20th ACC Women’s Golf Championship trophy without a few challenging moments in Saturday’s final round, but the Blue Devils responded in winning fashion.

After seeing Florida State charge from nine shots down to pull even early in the afternoon, Duke responded by pulling back away and left The Reserve Golf Club at Pawley’s Island with a nine-shot team victory.

Junior Leona Maguire claimed her second ACC championship medalist honor to lead the Blue Devils, who captured the tournament for the first time since 2014 and for the 19th time under coach Dan Brooks.

“We knew that Florida State was going to push us until the end,” Maguire said. “When I came through the turn, I saw that we were just one stroke ahead, and then even. I knew it was going to take some solid rallies down the stretch, and give credit where credit is due, to all our girls. We fought until the very end and managed to pull away.”

Maguire, who also medaled as a freshman in 2015, posted a 2-under round of 70 on Saturday and finished with a three-day, 6-under-par score of 210 to place two shots ahead of Wake Forest’s Jennifer Kupcho. Maguire became just the fourth golfer to win multiple ACC women’s titles and the first since Duke’s Amanda Blumenherst placed first three consecutive years from 2006 through 2008.

“We’ve got a really strong conference this year, and I knew that to win (the individual medal) was going to take some really strong golf,” Maguire said. “The course here was in fabulous condition and the greens were great. You knew that when you hit a good shot that you were going to be rewarded.”

Senior Sandy Choi, who played a key role in Duke’s 2014 ACC title, finished tied for fourth wih a 1-under cumulative score of 215. Choi shot a 71 on Saturday.

Following Duke (859) and Florida State (868) among the top five in the team scoring were Miami (874), North Carolina (876) and Clemson (877).

N.C. State wrapped up play with a final-round score of 302 (plus-14) to finish with an 888 (plus-24) and took sixth in the overall standings.

Elon: Aurelia Hamm and Heather Munro both remain among the top 15 following two rounds of play at the 2017 CAA Women’s Golf Championship at Ford’s Colony Country Club. After Saturday’s second round, the Phoenix stands sixth.

N.C. State: Led by sophomore Nolan Mills Jr. winning medalist honors and the entire starting lineup finishing within the top 16 of the tournament field, the Wolfpack dominated the 2017 Wolfpack Spring Open by 13 strokes. En route to claiming its third consecutive victory at this event, the Wolfpack shot 821 (minus-31) through three rounds of action at Lonnie Poole Golf Course.

Duke: On a day that saw host N.C.State run away with the lead and eventual tournament title, the Blue Devils held a steady position near the top of the leaderboard and finished third with an 849 (minus-3) stroke total in the Wolfpack Spring Open.

ECU: The Pirates shot a final-round 303 and finished with a 54-hole score of 913 to place 14th at The Maxwell, played at the par-70, 7,102-yard Oak Tree Golf and Country Club.

St. Augustine’s: On Friday the Falcons finished eighth in the 2017 CIAA Men’s Golf Championship Tournament at The Crossings Golf Club in Glen Allen, Va. Chowan won the conference title for the second straight year. Virginia Union was second and Livingstone placed third.

UNC/N.C. State: Gianluca Dalatri won his second straight start and the Tar Heels secured their sixth consecutive ACC series with a 7-1 victory over N.C. State Saturday at Boshamer Stadium. Brandon Riley had two hits including an RBI triple in the sixth that gave the Tar Heels the lead for good. UNC will go for its third consecutive sweep Sunday at 2 p.m.

Wake Forest: The bats came to life as the Demon Deacons roped eight extra-base hits in a series-clinching 13-7 victory over Notre Dame at David F. Couch Ballpark on Saturday.

ECU: Joseph Sheridan tossed 7.2 scoreless innings, while Kyle Marsh drove in a pair of runs helping UCF (26-11, 5-4 AAC) to a weekend sweep over the Pirates, 7-0, Saturday at Clark-LeClair Stadium. The Pirates dropped to 19-18 and 0-9.

Duke: The Blue Devils led 5-1 after two innings before Boston College outscored the Blue Devils 10-1 the final seven innings to clinch the series with a 15-6 decision Saturday at Jack Coombs Field.

St. Augustine’s: On Saturday the Falcons announced that standout pitcher Rickey Rice was wearing No. 42 this season in honor of Jackie Robinson, who broke the baseball color line and became the first African-American to play on a major sports team. The Falcons visited Bluefield State College in a doubleheader Saturday in Princeton, W.Va.

N.C. Central: The Eagles brought the tying run to the plate once again in the top of the ninth, but N.C. A&T was able to hold off the Eagles for a 5-2 win, and the weekend sweep on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium in Greensboro. Jake Raby went 4-for-4 in the contest with two doubles. The Eagles are next at home against Campbell on Tuesday at the Durham Athletic Park before visiting Duke on Wednesday at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Campbell: Jonathan Gonzalez drove in three to lead Radford over the Camels 7-4 Saturday in the Big South series finale at Jim Perry Stadium. The Highlanders (16-19, 6-6 Big South) handed Campbell (16-20, 5-7 Big South) its first series sweep of the season, also claiming game one 2-0 and game two 8-5.

Mount Olive: The Trojans swept the series from Erskine College after taking the series finale, 7-4, on the road in Conference Carolinas baseball action Saturday in Due West, S.C.

N.C. State: The Wolfpack concluded its series with Notre Dame on Saturday at Dail Stadium with a 5-2 loss. The Wolfpack falls to 15-28 (8-7 ACC) on the season and the Irish improve to 26-15 (11-7).

Campbell: The Camels claimed a 5-4 victory over Radford Saturday to sweep the series and pick up their sixth consecutive victory. The Camels (26-20, 11-4 Big South) were led by Caroline Smith and Taylor Campbell who posted 2-for-4 performances, scoring one run each.

UNC: Boston College plated two runs in the top of the first, but a six-run fifth inning propelled the Tar Heels to an 8-3 victory in Saturday’s series finale as the Heels concluded their final home ACC series with a three-game sweep of the Eagles. The win increases UNC’s foothold on second place in the conference standings at 35-11 (13-5 ACC), while BC slips to 24-17 (8-6).

Elon: The Phoenix earned a Colonial Athletic Association twin bill split versus Towson on Saturday in a set of extra-inning affairs. The Phoenix suffered a 2-1 setback in 10 innings to the Tigers in the opening game before rebounding to take game two, 4-3, in nine frames.

UNC/Wake Forest: The Tar Heels posted their fourth consecutive shutout with a 7-0 victory over Wake Forest on Saturday. The Tar Heels (24-2, 10-1 ACC) have not surrendered a point since dropping a 4-3 decision to Georgia Tech on April 1 in Chapel Hill. UNC has won all 25 available points since its first and only loss in the conference.

N.C. State: The Wolfpack fell to Virginia Tech Saturday in a narrow 4-3 match. The loss moves the Wolfpack to a 17-8 (6-6 ACC) record while the Hokies advance to 11-10, 4-8.

Duke: After surrendering the doubles point to Syracuse, the Blue Devils stormed back in singles to earn a 5-2 win over the Orange Saturday. The Blue Devils remained unbeaten in ACC play with the victory, moving to 17-3 on the year and 11-0 in conference action.

Elon: The Phoenix swept through doubles and had a strong showing in singles play to earn a 5-2 victory over James Madison in its regular-season finale on Saturday at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.

Duke: It was a Senior Day success for the Blue Devils as it sent TJ Pura out with a 6-1 Saturday victory against Miami. Pura picked up a singles win in his final home match as Duke ended the 2017 season 12-1 at home, falling only to No. 2 Wake Forest.

N.C. State: The Wolfpack ended its weekend, falling 5-2 to Florida State on Saturday at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center. The Pack sent the four final singles matches to three sets and fell in a tiebreaker to decide the doubles point in the close match.

St. Augustine’s: The Falcons’ Jumonne Exeter won the men’s triple jump in the Aggie Invitational at the Irwin Belk Track on the N.C. A&T campus.

Elon: A pair of school-records by junior thrower Bryanna Hames produced two of the 10 victories by the Phoenix as the program hosted its annual home meet, the Phoenix Invitational on Saturday, April 15, at the Jerry and Jeanne Robertson Track and Field Complex.

Duke: The Blue Devils returned to action Saturday at Griggs Reservoir on the Scioto River in Columbus, Ohio, with three races against No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Ohio State and Notre Dame. The Blue Devils came away with a trio of third-place performances and two fourths.

Campbell: The Camels won their final regular-season home game of the campaign by a 22-6 margin over Gardner-Webb Saturday. Mackenzie Koeller led the Camels with seven goals, which matched the highest single-game scoring tally by a Big South Conference player this season.

UNC: Emily Hawryshuk scored four goals as the 11th-ranked Syracuse women’s lacrosse team beat the Tar Heels, 13-11, on Saturday at Fetzer Field. Carolina clawed back from two different four-goal, first-half deficits to tie the score at 7-7 shortly after halftime, but Syracuse went on a 6-1 run to retake control.

Duke: Tied with Northwestern, 8-8, with 13 minutes to play, the Blue Devils were unable to contain the Wildcats down the stretch in a 12-10 loss Saturday at Martin Stadium.

Duke: Attackmen Jack Bruckner and Justin Guterding combined for 12 goals and six assists as the Blue Devils celebrated Senior Day at Koskinen Stadium with a 20-11 victory over Virginia in ACC men’s lacrosse action Saturday

Mount Olive: The Trojans fell to Limestone College on senior day, 10-6, in Conference Carolinas action on Saturday at the Ray McDonald Sr. Track & Field/Lacrosse Complex.

From news releases

This story was originally published April 15, 2017 at 11:30 PM with the headline "College Notebook."