BOONE, Iowa – With her 20-place improvement from midweek to Friday’s final round, East Mississippi Community College’s Lucy Lunceford finished 38th in this week’s inaugural NJCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championship held in Boone, Iowa. The four-day tournament, hosted by Des Moines Area Community College, was played at Cedar Pointe Golf Club.

A freshman from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Lunceford closed out the week with Friday’s 11-over-par 83 after carding an improved score of 84 during Thursday’s third round. She ranked as the biggest mover on Friday’s leaderboard by jumping 12 spots from her 50th-place tie the previous day.

The Northside High School product entered the second half of this week’s national championship tied for 58th place following inconsistent rounds of 91 and 93 to open the tournament on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

After making a nine-shot improvement from Wednesday’s round with eight pars the following day, Lunceford continued her steady play with six pars and a birdie during Friday’s round to finish among the top half of the tournament’s 84-player field.

Lunceford’s four-round total of 351 (91-93-84-83) consisted of 21 total pars, Friday’s birdie on the 18th hole to close out the front nine, 38 bogeys, 10 double bogeys and a pair of triple bogeys for the week.

Top-ranked Shelton State Community College (311-304-332-328—1275) coasted to a dominant 34-shot team victory over runner-up and second-ranked Mesa [AZ] CC (317-317-339-336—1309). Iowa Central CC (327-330-346-342—1345) and Murray State [OK] CC (333-335-335-349—1352) followed in third and fourth place, respectively.

In individual play, Iowa Central’s Ivanna Becerra-Diaz (74-73-84-78—309) claimed low medalist honors over runner-up Kamryn Johnston of Mott [MI] CC (74-78-79-78—309) by winning the first playoff hole.