Riding High, Sixth-Ranked Women Stillwater-Bound

DENTON - When Michael Akers was hired prior to the 2016-17 season, the UNT women's golf program looked up at more than 200 Division I programs ranked ahead of it in the national rankings.

Akers made it a point to improve the program's standing nationally each year, and when the 2019-20 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March, days after his team won its first tournament in nine years and Lauren Cox won the first individual tournament title for the Mean Green in seven years, the team was ranked No. 51 by GolfStat, putting them in great shape to have earned the second NCAA tournament bid in program history.

Of course, that never happened, thanks to the unforeseen circumstances, but after a strong start to the fall portion of the 2020-21 schedule, UNT is being rewarded.

Though the NCAA uses GolfStat rankings to determine seeding and bids in the NCAA tournament, the first poll will not be released for another month. Well after the Mean Green have played their final fall tournament when they travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to compete in the Cowgirl Classic on Thursday and Friday. But earlier this week, Golfweek magazine released its first set of national rankings, and the result was eye-opening.

The Mean Green checked in at No. 6 nationally after strong showings at the Schooner Fall Classic, hosted by Oklahoma, and the Betsy Rawls Invitational, hosted by Texas, where the team was the only non-Big 12 team in the field. In the individual national rankings, senior Lauren Cox checked in at No. 7 in the country.

"We are very excited to see our initial Golfweek ranking in the top 10," Akers said. "I think this will only help our players to understand just how good they are. The blueprint to building a nationally competitive program is working out and it is certainly satisfying. Many, many people have helped us to get to this point and we cannot thank them enough."

The previous highest ranking in program history was back in the 2011-12 season when the Mean Green got up to No. 41 nationally. That same year, Jacey Chun climbed to No. 5 in the individual rankings.

Cox, who was supposed to end her Mean Green career in May, returned for a bonus senior year after the NCAA granted extra eligibility to athletes whose sports were impacted by the pandemic stoppage. Now, she's the team's "super senior" and leader on, and off, the course, as evidenced by her back-to-back first-team All-Conference USA selections the past two years.

"We are really excited for the Golfweek rankings and how we've been playing this fall," Cox said. "I'm thankful for the opportunity to play, given the circumstances and I'm happy that we making the most of it!"

Cowgirl Classic
Karsten Creek Golf Club | Stillwater, Okla.

The North Texas women's golf team returns to action for the final competition of the fall schedule after a strong showings In Norman and Austin. It will be a familiar field loaded with Big 12 powers, many of which the Mean Green have fared well against.

THE EVENT: Karsten Creek Golf Club will play as a par-72 course at 6,156 yards. The teams will play 36 holes on Thursday and will finish with 18 holes on Friday. There will be shotgun starts at 8:45 a.m., on both days.

THE FIELD: There are nine teams participating in the tournament (rankings are from the latest Golfweek rankings): No. 1 Baylor, No. 30 BYU, No. 8 Iowa State, No. 11 Kansas, No. 6 North Texas, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 7 Oklahoma State, No. 5 TCU and No. 9 Texas Tech.

REPRESENTING UNT: Competing for the Mean Green will be Audrey Tan, Lauren Cox, Katie Finley, Patricia Sinolungan and Emilie Ricaud.

RESULTS: Live scoring and final results will be posted on GolfStat.com. A full recap will be posted on MeanGreenSports.com at the end of the day.

LAST TIME OUT: UNT finished sixth at the Betsy Rawls Invitational. Lauren Cox finished tied for eighth for her second consecutive top-10 showing, and Katie Finley shot a final-round 65 to break the program record for low round. The team shot a 5-under 283 in the final round to tie the program record for best round, relative to par.

MOVING UP: North Texas has made significant strides since head Michael Akers took over roughly five years ago. The Mean Green were ranked No. 201 following the 2015-16 season, and since Akers arrived in Denton, UNT has soared more than 150 spots from that time. The Mean Green ended last season ranked No. 51 by GolfStat. The first set of rankings for this season will be released on Nov. 17.

AKERS SAYS: "We are very excited to get up to Oklahoma State and play against the Big 12 again. I think we have a chip on our shoulder this time, and we feel we let some teams beat us that should not have at UT. When (assistant coach) Lindsey (McCurdy) and I watch our team play against the Big 12, we realize just how good we are. Of course, we want our players playing the course and not the other players. Golf is so mental, and we constantly tell our ladies how good they are and to think big."

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Players Mentioned

Lauren Cox

Katie Finley

Emilie Ricaud

Patricia Sinolungan

Audrey Tan

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