Keene, N.Y. - Freshman Lauren Kase (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart) finished in fifth place with a program-record score to lead the Le Moyne College women's golf team to a third-place finish at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship on Sunday and Monday at the par-72, 5827-yard North Course at the Bretwood Golf Course.
 
The Dolphins finished in third place for the third straight year with a two-day total of 649, which is the second-best 36-hole score in the program's history. The Dolphins turned in a 328 in the first round to land in second place. They followed up with a 321 on Monday, but slipped to third despite registering the third-best 18-hole score in the program's history. Le Moyne's total at this year's Championship is 59 shots better than last year and 83 strokes better than the previous year, while the distance from first place is 46 shots better than last year. Merrimack College won its third Northeast-10 title in the last 29 months with an NE-10 record score of 625. The Warriors registered a then NE-10-record score of 315 in the first round and then dropped their score to a new record of 310. Franklin Pierce University placed second for the third straight year with a total of 646. The Ravens posted a 330 on Sunday to place third and then moved up one spot with a 316. Merrimack's Alessandra Ricigliano won her second straight individual NE-10 championship with a two-over par score of 146. She recorded a 75 in the first round to tie for second place and then moved up one placement with an NE-10-record round of one-under 71.

Kase, the top freshman in the standings, tied the program's 36-hole individual record with a score of 156 to place fifth among the 35 competitors. Then-freshman Katherine Walsh (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) established the record mark on September 19 and 20, 2015 at the Southern New Hampshire University Penmen Invitational. Kase opened the Championship with an 80 to tie for fifth place. She closed out the event with a personal-best score of 76, which included a pair of birdies and 11 pars, to take over fifth place on her own.

Freshman Bianca Cruz-Hernandez (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary) registered a 160 over the two days to finish in seventh place. She posted an 83 in the first round to land in a three-way tie for ninth place. She followed up that performance with a 77 on Monday to climb a pair of spots in the standings. Her second round featured eight pars and three birdies, which included chipping in a shot from a greenside bunker on the 15th hole.

Walsh, who placed 15th at last year's Championship with a 184, finished in eighth place as a sophomore with a 165. She tallied an 82 in the first round to tie for seventh place and then recorded an 83 on Monday.

Senior Kayla Burt (Williamsville, N.Y./Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart), who posted scores of 183 and 182 at each of the last two NE-10 Championships, registered a 175 to place 18th. She carded an 83 on Sunday and then posted a 92 in the second round.

Junior Ashley Mayse (Cecilton, Md./Bohemia Manor), who recorded a 183 at the NE-10 Championship two years ago and improved by one shot last year, improved by another shot this year to tie for 24th place. After recording a 96 in the first round, she tallied 10 pars in the second round en route to an 85.
 
Le Moyne, which tallied one point for a 4-1 lead in the year-long "Upstate Challenge" with The College of Saint Rose after the Golden Knights placed fifth at the Championship, is back on the links on Saturday and Sunday at the Williams College Fall Classic at Taconic Golf Course in Williamstown, Mass.