April 20, 2007

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Memphis will test their skills from this season next week, when they travel to Birmingham, Ala. to compete against conference rivals in a battle for the conference championship title. The Lady Tigers will have the opportunity to claim bragging rights against the other Conference USA teams.

The conference tournament will take place April 23-25 at the Limestone Springs Golf Club in Birmingham, Ala. The University of Alabama at Birmingham is hosting the event. Last year, Memphis finished sixth out of the nine teams, and senior golfer Stacey Tate finished third in individual competition.

"We have all really been looking forward to the conference tournament and are ready to play our best golf of the year," said head coach Jenny Bruun. "We probably have one of the most experienced line-ups in the country, which is great because everyone on the team knows what to expect going into this event."

The line-up for the Lady Tigers will be Stacey Tate, Rachel Larson, Meghan Mahoney, Dawn-Marie Conaty and Kathryn O'Rourke. Seniors Tate and O'Rourke will be competing in their last conference tournament of their Memphis careers. Tate is looking to take home the crown, improving her third place finish from last year. Memphis is hoping for a solid performance and hoping to take home the title.

"Our conference is very strong and SMU is definitely the team to beat this week, and we will have to play consistently well throughout," said Bruun. "This team isn't ready for the year to be over with, and I think they will prove that this weekend with their performance. I believe that they are ready both mentally and physically, and I can't wait to see them succeed this weekend."

Going into this tournament, SMU is ranked 43rd, with Memphis as the third lowest ranked team at 69th. Just ahead of Memphis is the University of Central Florida ranked 67th. East Carolina will enter the tournament ranked 71st, and Tulsa is currently ranked 81st. University of Texas-El Paso is ranked 83rd entering the conference championship. Marshall is 150th, UAB is ranked 160th and Southern Mississippi is ranked at 167.

East Carolina took home the tournament trophy last year, scoring an 887, with their own Lene Krog finishing first in individual competition. The last time the Lady Tigers finished first in the conference tournament was in 2001. Memphis is looking to stop the drought as they head to Alabama this weekend.