April 10, 2008

PHOENIX -- Northern Colorado's women's golf team now knows it has a little work to do if it wants to win this year's Big Sky title.

The Bears got a glance at the course on which they'll compete for that title at today's Big Sky Preview, a one-day, 18-hole event at Foothills Golf Club. Northern Colorado's 326 team score (+38) gave it a fifth-place finish, but the Bears were only 12 shots back of event-winner Northern Arizona (314, +26).

Northern Colorado will compete for the Big Sky Conference championship from Monday to Wednesday, April 20 to 23, at Foothills Golf Club.

Individually, the Bears' Jenny Henderson (Fargo, N.D.) continued her strong spring at the Preview. She turned in a 7-over-par 79, which was good enough to tie with five others for sixth place. That follows Henderson's tie for eighth at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic on Tuesday, April 8, and her third-place finish in March at the Elco, Inc. women's intercollegiate tournament in Bakersfield, Calif.

Katie Avery (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) tied for 15th Thursday after turning in an 81 (+9), and Gina Rodriguez (Fort Morgan, Colo.) got Northern Colorado's other top-25 finish, tying for 21st with an 82 (+10).

Also competing for the Bears was Heather Daviner (Parker, Colo.), who tied for 33rd (84), and Shayna Godfrey (Sterling, Colo.), who came in tied for 41st (90).

Northern Arizona's Ali Carter was the individual Preview champion with a 75.