March 25, 2004

Coming off a season-best second-place finish at the Lady Gamecock Classic, the University of South Carolina women’s golf team travels to Athens, Georgia, this weekend for the 32nd annual Liz Murphey Collegiate.

The Friday through Sunday 54-hole tournament will be played at the par 72, 6,014-yard University of Georgia Golf Course with many of the nation’s top teams participating, including No. 1 Duke, No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 8 Auburn and No. 10 Oklahoma State.

South Carolina’s lineup this weekend will feature Adrienne Gautreaux, Erica Battle, Jenna Pearson, Tiffany Catafygiotu and Marci Robinson. Megan Miller will also participate as an individual. Gautreaux, a senior from Mabank, Texas, is ranked 16th in the latest GolfWeek/Sagarin Poll and was honored Monday as the SEC Golfer of the Week.

The 27th-ranked Gamecocks shot a 914 over the three rounds of the Lady Gamecock Classic to take second place in the March 12 through 14th event at The University Club.

“Coming off the strong finish at the Lady Gamecock, I think that we are playing with the most confidence we’ve had this season,” said USC head coach Kristi Coggins. “We have the attitude and the desire to go out this weekend and win. It won’t be an easy task as we’ll be facing some of the top teams in the country.”

South Carolina finished 10th last year with Tiffany Catafygiotu recording a fourth-place finish to lead the squad. Duke won the 2003 team title with the Blue Devils’ Elizabeth Janagelo set to defend her 2003 individual title.