BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. – Led by senior Lexi Hanson and freshman Maggie Veenendall, the University of Sioux Falls Women's Golf Team continued a strong opening season performance by setting a two-round DII program record of 612 and finishing seventh at the Central Region Preview which concluded Wednesday at the Adams Golf Course in Blue Springs, Mo.  

On Tuesday (Sept. 4), USF recorded the best round of the DII era at 303, which placed the Cougars in a tie for second place with Henderson State and Central Missouri. On Wednesday, the Cougars finished just slightly off the opening day pace with a 309, which bettered the best mark of a year ago by three strokes. USF was seventh at 612 (303-309) but just three shots from fifth and had the lowest two rounds in the program's DII history.

Central Missouri won the tournament at 602 (303-299) with Henderson State, second at 603 (303-300). After those two teams, Nebraska-Kearney was third at 607 (313-294) with SW Oklahoma State, fourth at 608 (311-297), Rogers State, fifth at 609 (302-307), Northeastern State, sixth at 610 (307-303) and then USF. The Cougars had the best finish among NSIC teams with Minnesota State at 9^th (625-311-314) and Upper Iowa, 14^th (648-323-325).

USF's top four players, Lexi Hanson (74-76-150), Maggie Veenendall (75-76-151), Sydney Hubbard (76-78-154) and Alex Nutter (78-79-157) all shot sub 80 rounds on consecutive days for the first time as a group at USF. Both Hubbard and Nutter had career-best totals across two rounds with Hanson one shot off her career-best score.

Hanson, a two-time All-NSIC performer and NCAA DII regional qualifier for two straight seasons, opened with a 74 and finished with a 76 as she carded a team-best 150, which placed her a tie for 11^th. Hanson's 150 is just one shot off her career-best of 149 (74-75) at the Ramada Mustang Invite on Sept. 22-23, 2018.

Maggie Veenendall opened her career with an impressive three-over par 75 and closed at 76 for a sizzling two-round total 151 and a tie for 14^th.

"The course played tough today," said USF Women's Golf Coach Tavia Rutherford. "It was a grind but our ladies fought until the end. Our closing stats weren't where we wanted them to be but I am very proud of where we are at now as the season has started.I am excited to see how much progress we make before our next tournament," she said.

Besides Hanson and Veenendall, USF had solid efforts from three juniors in the opening round.

Sydney Hubbard tied for 27^th as she opened at 76 and then had a 78 in day two for a two-round score of 154, which established a career-best for the junior standout. She also had back-to-back sub-80 rounds for the first time. All-NSIC Alex Nutter was tied for 36^th with a two-round total of 157, which was also her career-best two-round total. She followed up her day one 78 by carding a 79. Lexi Jonas finished at 168 or a tie for 74^th. She opened with an 80 and closed at 88 on day two.

In addition, freshman Annie Balduzzi finished tied for 59^th as she played as an individual and had a strong day two performance. After opening at 85, she closed with a 78 for a two-round total of 163.   

Next for USF will be the Golden Bear Invite at the The Jewel Golf Club, Lake City, Minn., on Sept. 15-17.