Utah Valley University junior Cassandra Lesa carded a career-low 71 during Friday's final round at the Pizza Hut Thunderbird Invitational on Friday at the Sunbrook Golf Club en route to finishing in a tie for second place at the tournament at 4-over par.
Lesa jumped from eighth to second during Friday's final round after recoding the 1-under-par 71. The Wolverine junior posted a 5-over-par 77 on Thursday to finish the tournament with a 4-over 148.
Lesa led the tournament in pars by recording 28 of them in 36 holes of play. She also birdied her final hole on Friday to secure the under-par finish.
"Cassie (Lesa) stepped up in a big way this week as she led the team on the course," head coach Sue Nyhus said. "It's fun to see each of our players having big stretches of solid golf."
As a team, UVU dropped two spots to place seventh out of 14 teams with a two-day total of 625 (+49). After tallying a 314 on Thursday, the Wolverines put up a 311 during Friday's final round.
South Dakota State won the tournament at 33-over par (609), while Oral Roberts placed second (+34), Grand Canyon third (+35), Georgetown fourth (+41), and Cal Poly and host Southern Utah tied for fifth (+46).
Behind Lesa's career-best second-place finish, sophomore Monica Yeates was next for UVU by tying for 29th with a two-day total of 158 (+14). After carding an 80 on Thursday, Yeates put up a 78 on Friday.
Sophomore Kimberly Nyhus and senior Heather Mathison tied for 48th at the tournament with identical 36-hole totals of 162 (+18). Nyhus recorded a 77 on Friday, while Mathison carded an 86. Fellow senior Hannah Herman rounded out UVU's competitors at the tournament by tying for 60th place with a 166 (+22).
By taking seventh, UVU finished ahead of South Dakota (eighth), Montana State (tied for ninth), Weber State (tied for ninth), Nebraska-Omaha (tied for ninth), Northern Kentucky (12th), Eastern Washington (13th) and Idaho State (14th).
GCU's Charlotte Jaengkit won the tournament at 1-over par (145).
The Wolverines now remain in St. George for the BYU at Entrada Classic that will be played Monday and Tuesday, March 16-17, at the Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club.
James Warnick is an assistant sports information director at Utah Valley University. For more information about Wolverine athletics, visit WolverineGreen.com.