LAS VEGAS — Lauren Rios finished in the top 25 individuals to help guide UTSA to eighth place at the Lady Luck Invitational, which concluded Tuesday at Las Vegas Country Club (par 72/6,529 yards).
Rios carded an even-par 72 in the final round to help the Roadrunners climb one spot in the team standings and end up ahead of a pair of ranked teams in No. 19 Baylor and 44th-ranked Texas Tech.
UTSA finished in eighth with a 912 (309-302-301), three strokes ahead of New Mexico, four in front of Baylor and a dozen better than Texas State. The Roadrunners also placed ahead of BYU (927), Nevada (928) and Texas Tech (935) in the 14-team field that included seven nationally ranked squads.
Individually, Rios was the highest-finishing Roadrunner by tying for 23rd with a 9-over 225. The Coppell High School graduate bounced back from a 79 in the opening round with a 74 on Monday afternoon before closing with her best score of the week. Her even-par, final-round scorecard featured birdies on the 484-yard, par-5 ninth, the 402-yard, par-4 15th and the 381-yard, par-4 16th holes, as she paced UTSA with six circled numbers for the event.
Maria Bastarrica and Victoria Schuldt ended up in a tie with four other players for 34th.
Bastarrica, a junior from Spain, opened with a 76 and then countered an 80 in the second round with a 74 on Tuesday on the strength of a pair of birdies.
Schuldt, a freshman who hails from Germany, shook off an 81 on Monday morning with a 1-over 73 in round two and a 76 for the final 18 holes.
Daniela Abonce grabbed a share of 43rd (233) after posting rounds of 76, 78 and 79, while Kayla Black placed 55th with a 78-77-81—236.
No. 16 UCF won the team title with a 2-over 290, followed by No. 30 Kent State (+15), No. 33 Houston (+22), host UNLV (+23) and No. 28 Oklahoma State (+30).
Kent State’s Veronika Kedronova claimed the individual crown with a 2-under 214 (71-73-70).
The Roadrunners will return to action March 16-17 at the Betsy Rawls Invitational at UT Golf Club in Austin.
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