ATLANTA, Ga. – The Stanford women's golf team finished its fall season on a winning note Wednesday by beating Pac-12 foe UCLA, 3-2, to claim the consolation crown for the second consecutive year in the prestigious East Lake Cup at East Lake Golf Club.
Now ranked No. 1 in the country by Golfstat, the Cardinal received victories from senior Casey Danielson, junior Shannon Aubert and freshman Andrea Lee in the come-from-behind triumph.
The seventh-ranked Bruins jumped out to a 2-0 lead behind Clare Legaspi, who defeated freshman Albane Valenzuela, 3 and 2, while Bronte Law bested sophomore Sierra Kersten, 8 and 6.
But Stanford, who fell 4-1 to Washington on Tuesday in the semifinals, rebounded gamely. Lee produced another strong performance by turning back Bethany Wu, 4 and 2. She never trailed and was 1-under for 16 holes.
Danielson and Aubert were involved in tight matches from start to finish. Danielson and Mariel Galdiano were all square though nine holes. She dropped the par-4 10th to a par, then won the next three holes to climb 2-up. After losing the par-3 15th to a birdie, Danielson answered with a birdie at the par-4 16th and halved the par-4 17th to seal a 2 and 1 win.
Aubert started strong against Lilia Vu, capturing three of the first five holes to earn a 2-up advantage. Vu trimmed her lead to 1-up at the turn and evened the match with a birdie at the par-3 11th. Aubert regained it with a par at the 12th and it was back and forth until the end. Aubert broke a tie with a par at 17 and tied the par-5 18th to prevail, 1-up.
"We made some good adjustments today," said Anne Walker, the Margot and Mitch Milias Director of Women's Golf. "Played with a lot more patience and didn't react to what we saw from our opponent but rather played our own game and stuck with our game plan. That gave us an opportunity to beat a very strong UCLA team."
The tournament featured semifinalists from the 2016 NCAA Championship. Duke defeated Washginton, 3-1, to win the women's division, while Illinois downed Oregon, 3-2, to claim the men's division.
It capped a strong fall for the Cardinal, who recorded two seconds and two thirds in four starts. Lee led the way with individual victories at the Windy City Intercollegiate and stroke play portion of the East Lake Cup, defeating Danielson on the sixth hole of a sudden death playoff.
"We grew a lot over the past 36 holes," Walker said. "Hopefully that will help us in May."
Stanford returns to competition Feb. 11-12, when it plays host to the Peg Barnard Invitational at Stanford Golf Course.