The women's golf team used a record-setting second round to take fourth place at the 17-team Yale Intercollegiate Tournament last weekend.
After the first round of golf, the Pirates sat in ninth place overall as the team shot a 27-over-par, 311. However, just as they have done so far this season, the Pirates fired back with a program-low score, 290, in the second round. The previous record was 298 strokes, set last year at the par-70 Bucknell Invitational.
On the second day, three Pirates shot an even-par or better. Junior Ali Kruse shot a 1-under-par, 70, and classmate Erin McClure and senior Hannah Basalone shot even-par, 71's.
Basalone, arguably the most successful golfer in program history, made her first start this season after uncharacteristically struggling to start the year.
"She didn't let that define her," head coach Sara Doell said. "Look how she turned around to go from shooting in the 90s to even-par at Yale. I knew she was going to come around. It was so nice to see her walking like Hannah again."
Basalone said that working through her rough start and working her way back into the starting lineup was a great feeling.
"I had my struggles at the beginning," she said. "It was nice to finally be contributing to the team's score, and I'm glad I was able to step up and do that this weekend."
In the third round of action, the Pirates shot an 18-over-par, 302, which was the second-best third round score, which helped the Pirates grab a fourth place finish.
"After Princeton and the struggle we had, I feel really happy," Doell said. "I feel thrilled we had the performance we had."
Basalone echoed her coach's statement, also seeing the positive of coming back from a seventh-place finish at Princeton last weekend.
"I think it was awesome," she said. "We came back very nicely from Princeton and we didn't let that affect us, which is really important."
The team now has three weekends off, but the team will compete in an inter-squad tournament to keep the golfers "walking fairways," according to Doell.
After the break from action, the Pirates will once again make program history. It will be the first time the squad will defend a tournament win as they will look to repeat at the Rutgers Invitational.
T.J. Brennan can be reached at thomas.brennan@student.shu.edu.
