Freshman Amari Avari of USC, playing in her second college tournament, captured the individual title and led the 14th-ranked Trojans to the team title in the Icon Invitational at the Golf Club of Houston.
The Trojans, who have finished in the top 10 six times since September, claimed their first victory of the season with a score of 270-281-274—825, 39-under par, followed by Illinois at 287-280-273—840, Oklahoma State at 285-283-277—845, Texas Tech at 288-291-272-851 and Texas A&M at 290-289-280—859.
“It was great to see this group come out early in the final round and make a few birdies to really slam the door shut on this tournament,” USC Coach Justin Silverstein said. “A lot of smart work went into this record-setting, and I’m thrilled that this group is getting rewarded for that work.
“We look forward to getting back out to compete in Seal Beach next week with some really good West Coast schools.”
Purdue was sixth at 287-294-287—868, while Tennessee totaled 295-287-287—869 to tie for seventh with Houston, which finished at 289-290-290—869, and Mississippi, which wound up at 290-296-283—869.
Michigan State carded a score of 289-297-286—872 to tie for 10th with Maryland, which came in at 290-295-287—872.
Avery, a four-time Rolex All-American from Riverside who won the 2019 California Women’s Amateur Championship, joined the Trojans at the mid-term break and recorded a winning score of 65-71-65—201, while Amy Taylor of Texas Tech was second at 68-68-66—202.
Avery’s 54-hole score tied the USC record set by 2006 NCAA champion Dewi Claire Schreefel and she became the first Trojan to shoot 65 twice in the same tournament.
“Amari’s performance was spectacular, and we couldn’t be more proud of the way she has transitioned from high school to college,” Silverstein said.
Cindy Kou of USC shot 68-68-67—203 to tie for third with Crystal Wang of Illinois, who wound up at 68-71-64—203, while Kornkamol Sukaree of Illinois was fifth at 70-68-70—208.
Mikayla Bardell of Tennessee totaled 71-70-68—209 to tie for sixth with Jennie Park of Texas A&M, and Chiara Tamburlini of Mississippi, who finished at 70-70-69—209.
Annie Kim of Houston wound up at 70-72-69—211 to tie for ninth with Han-Hsuan Yu of Oklahoma State, who came in at 71-70-70—211.
Rounding out the scoring for team champion USC were Michaela Morad, who shot 69-72-71—212 to finish in a tie for 11th that included Trojan teammate Kathrine Muzi, who finished at 68-73-71—212, while Brianna Navarossa tied for 16th at 71-70-73—214.
USC plays next in the Gold Rush, which the Trojans won last season, beginning Monday at Old Ranch Country Club in Seah Beach.
For complete results, visit https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=24712
