NEWS: USC, UCLA women win NCAA regionals

For the third time in three years, USC will enter the NCAA Championships final as a regional winner after a wire-to-wire performance to win the 2008 NCAA West Regional, which wrapped up play on Saturday (May 10) at the Lincoln Hills G.C., in Lincoln, Calif.

USC, which won the Central Regional each of the past two years (first at Texas A&M and then at Michigan), clinched its 11th straight NCAA Championship final berth with an 15-stroke win for its third consecutive tournament win this season.

Sophomore Stefanie Endstrasser, a spring semester transfer from Purdue, notched her highest finish as a Trojan, tying for third at 5-under 211 (71-71-69), one shot out of first. For the third day in a row, she birdied four times and had only one bogey for a 3-under performance that tied her low round of the season. MORE

Meanwhile, UCLA's women captured the Central Regional. UCLA head coach Carrie Forsyth said before the tournament that she relished the challenge of being shipped to the Central Regional. The Bruins, No. 2 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, shot the day’s low score in all three rounds to finish at 3-under 861 to win by 10 shots over No. 6 Purdue.

UCLA freshman Maria Jose Uribe, the U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, shot a final-round 70 to finish tied for first with Purdue’s Maria Hernandez (69).

Read the Golfweek story HERE.