Michigan State takes Big 10 Women's Championship

MAINEVILLE, OH (April 23, 2017) - Down eight to start the day Michigan State closed with a 3-under to finish 2-over and as the winners of the Big 10 Women's Championship. The title at TPC River’s Bend was the seventh in program history and fourth since 2011. Defending co-champions Northwestern (+4) and Ohio State (+10) placed second and third, Wisconsin (+20) was fourth and Michigan (+28) was fifth. Sarah Burnham, 5-under, led the Spartans with her runner-up showing. Burnham's best round was her second round program record 9-under 63. The round included 11 birdies and a double-bogey. Burnham birdied six holes in a row from Nos. 3-8 and 10 in a 12 hole stretch if the run is extending to the 14th hole. Allyson Geer (4th; E) and Katie Sharp (T5; +2) also finished inside the top-10 for Michigan State. “It shows what our kids are made of, anything is possible," Michigan State head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said. "I tried to emphasize to them before today’s round to play one shot at a time. We can only control ourselves so we have to take it one shot at a time. It says a lot about who our players are and as a team and their abilities. Today, we had to get the job done. When you come into the day having to come from behind, if you don’t play well, you don’t win. It was a gutsy performance. They wanted to win and they were willing to do what it took.” The medalist title went to Elodie Van Dievoet of Michigan who finished 6-under. Van Dievoet combined rounds of 69-71-70 to earn a one shot victory thanks to an 18th hole birdie. Behind runner-up Sarah Burnham came Emie Peronnin (Minnesota) in third at 4-under, Geer was fourth at even-par while three others shared fifth at 2-over. -Michigan State athletics contributed to this story