FINAL TEAM LEADERBOARD - STROKE PLAY | FINAL PLAYER LEADERBOARD - STROKE PLAY

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. - Sitting outside the Top-8 after the first nine holes of round three at the 2024 NCAA Division II National Championships, No. 11 Henderson State turned it on in the second-half of the round as the Reddies posted a sixth-place finish when it was all said and done.

The Top-8 placement sends sixth-seeded HSU to the National Quarterfinals for the second straight year. Last season, Henderson came into the quarterfinal round as the No. 7 seed before defeating No. 2 West Texas A&M to advance to the National Semifinals.

At the turn, the Reddies were two strokes back of eight place after recording just four birdies as a team through the first nine holes. Within the first five holes of the back-half of the course, the red and gray matched that number plus one, recording five birdies over that stretch.

Five holes into the second nine-hole stretch was where true sophomore Lily Nelson got going, carrying the Reddies the rest of the way with four birdies on her last five holes. Nelson finished as a National All-Tournament recipient with her tied-for-seventh finish with a 54-hole score of 3-under 213 thanks to a third-round 3-under 69.



Jinna Boonbumroongsuk delivered her second straight 1-under 71 as she placed in a tie for 23rd with a three-day score of 2-over 218. Boonbumroongsuk and Nelson were the only two Reddies to secure multiple rounds of stroke play below par.

Daphney Tilton was the most consistent player across the 54 holes for Henderson, recording rounds of 1-over 73, 3-over 75 and 2-over 74 for her 6-over 222, placing her in a tie for fortieth.

Allie Bianchi finished stroke play with a 3-over 75 on the final day before being announced as a First Team All-American. The GAC Player of the Year, All-Region recipient, NCAA Elite 90 award winner and now All-American heads into medal match play with a 7-over 223 across her three rounds.



Felisa Sajulga, making her National Championships debut, rounded out the Reddies with a three-day score of 16-over 232. The first-year Reddie closed the three days with a team-high 38 pars, which was tied for the eighth most out of the entire 98-player field.

No. 11 Henderson State now advances to the Medal Match Portion of the National Championships as the No. 6 seed, where it will meet the No. 3 seed and defending National Champion Dallas Baptist Patriots for a spot in the National Semifinals.

MEDAL MATCH PLAY BREAKDOWN
An eight-team bracket format will proceed over the final two days based on the teams' finishes in the three rounds of stroke play. Henderson will face Dallas Baptist as the Reddies' five golfers will go head-to-head against the Patriots' five.
 
The way medal match play will work is, as opposed to stroke play where you count your teams' top four scorers, each golfer will go head-to-head against a pre-determined Dallas Baptist opponent. Across 18 holes, whichever team wins three of the five head-to-head matches will advance to the next round.
 
If both squads win two head-to-head matches and the deciding-match finishes with the same score-to-par from both competitors, the tiebreaker will be the combined five scores for each team.
 
If Henderson can get past Dallas Baptist, it will then turn around and play the semifinals match against the winner of No. 2 seed West Texas A&M and No. 7 seed Indianapolis.
 
Tilton will begin the day at 7:44 a.m. CT against Dallas Baptist's Jordan Karrh, both of whom finished the three rounds of stroke play at 6-over 222. From there, Nelson, Sajulga, Boonbumroongsuk and Bianchi will tee off in eight minute increments.