PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – SWOSU Women's Golf posted its lowest team score of the tournament in Thursday's final round at the 2026 NCAA Division II Women's Golf Championships, but the Lady Bulldogs came up just short of qualifying for match play, finishing tied for ninth and two strokes outside the cutoff.
 
The Lady Bulldogs fired a final-round 304, their best team score of the week, as they attempted to erase a seven-stroke deficit entering the day.
 
No. 1-ranked Wingate won the stroke play portion of the championship by 20 strokes and also claimed the individual medalist honors, as Amely Bochaton was the only player in the field to finish under par at 13-under, winning the individual title by 13 strokes.
 
SWOSU also finished ahead of the other three Central Region representatives in the field, fellow Great American Conference member Arkansas Tech and MIAA teams Rogers State and Nebraska Kearney.
 
Freya Sala and Maria Velilla each carded rounds of 74 (+2) on Thursday to lead the Lady Bulldogs. The score matched Sala's best round of the tournament, while Velilla recorded her lowest round of the week.
 
Sala finished tied for 10th overall after totaling 10 birdies across the tournament, tied for the fifth-most in the field. Her 4.07 scoring average on par-4 holes also ranked tied for fifth among competitors. A late double bogey on hole 17 interrupted an otherwise strong closing stretch in which she birdied twice and played five other holes at even par over her final eight holes.
 
Velilla finished tied for 22nd and posted a third consecutive round with two birdies. She played both the front and back nine at one-over par during her final round.
 
Daniela Espinoza, who posted SWOSU's lowest round of the tournament with a one-over 73 on Wednesday, finished tied for 28th overall after an 80 in the final round. Espinoza also excelled on par 3s throughout the tournament, tying for second in the field with a 2.83 scoring average on par-3 holes.
 
London Wilson (T-84) and Nerea Anton (92nd) both improved significantly in the final round. Wilson matched Espinoza's 80, while Anton carded a four-over 76 after recording pars on 14 holes.
 
SWOSU closes the 2025-26 season after capturing the second NCAA Central Region Championship in program history and producing the program's first NCAA Regional individual champion in Sala. The Lady Bulldogs won three stroke-play tournaments this season, retained the Perkins Cup against Northwestern Oklahoma State in head-to-head match play, and recorded the second-best national finish in program history.
 
2026 NCAA Championships
Tuesday-Thursday, May 12-14
Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (PGA National Resort)
Final Results (website)
 

Pos.	Team/Player	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	To Par
T-9	SWOSU	309	314	304	+63
T-10	Freya Sala	74	76	74	+8
T-22	Maria Velilla	75	78	74	+11
T-28	Daniela Espinoza	76	73	80	+13
T-84	London Wilson	84	87	80	+35
92	Nerea Anton	89	91	76	+40