SUGAR GROVE, IL (May 24, 2017) - It will be Pac 12 versus Big 10 for the NCAA Women's Championship, as Arizona State University and Northwestern University won their semifinals by the slimmest of margins at Rich Harvest Farms.
Both semifinals came down to extra holes in the final player's match.
Linnea Strom of Arizona State, at one point two down in her match with Stanford's Madie Chou, parred the 19th hole to take the match and send the Sun Devils through to the final.
Earlier, NCAA Individual champion Monica Vaughn of Arizona State engineered a comeback of her own, making a birdie on the eighteenth hole to square the match with Stanford's Albane Valenzuela, and then parring the 19th hole to win.
The other three matches were never in doubt, with ASU's Olivia Mehaffey never trailing in a 2 up win over Stnaford's Andrea Lee, and Stanford taking the other two by 3&2 (Casey Danielson over Sophia Zeeb) and 4&3 (Shannon Aubert over Roberta Liti).
In the other semifinal, Northwestern put two points on the board early against Southern Cal, with Sarah Cho defeating Victoria Morgan 2 up and Hannah Kim beating Robynn Ree 2 up.
It then appeared as if the Trojans might sweep the other matches and advance, as each of their three remaining players held leads of at least two holes coming down the stretch.
USC's Tiffany Chan did manage to put a point on the board, holding off Northwestern's Stephanie Lau 2&1. But the other two Trojans gave up their leads, with Muni He losing the last three holes against Kacie Komoto, and Gabriella Then losing two of the last three to Janet Mao.
But He rebounded in the playoff, getting up and down from far right of the green and watching as Komoto three-putted to bring the overall score to 2-2.
Both Mao and Then missed the green on the nineteenth hole, and Mao made a ten-foot par putt to send the Wildcats through to the final.
Three of the four semifinalists were Pac 12 schools.
Play resumed Wednesday morning after rain interrupted play on Tuesday afternoon. The tournament has been plagued by the weather throughout, causing high scoring in the stroke play stage and wiping out one round altogether.
Arizona State will be going for its 8th national championship; Northwestern, its first.