Women's Golf Wins Sun Belt Title; Hansen Wins Individual Championship

SBC Championship Final Results   |   Final Leaderboard   |   Final Players Leaderboard 

SANDESTIN, Fla. - With a 23-stroke lead heading into the final round of the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Championship, the Coastal Carolina's women's golf team just needed to stay focused for their first Sun Belt title, and that they did.

The Chanticleers brought home the title by shooting a five-over 289 in the final round, the low team score of the day. CCU finished the conference championship with a 20-over 872 (297-286-289) to win the event by 34 strokes over second-place Troy's 906, +54 (300-306-300).

Malene Krolboll Hansen was the overall individual champion, an honor that was not decided until the final six holes. She had consecutive birdies on the 13th, 14th, and 15th holes to open up a five-shot lead and ended the match with pars on 16, 17, and 18.

She finished with a two-under 69 over the final round and her winning score total of two-under 211 (73-69-69) was five strokes better than the second-place finisher and teammate Sena Ersoy. Her winning total was also the second-lowest all-time score by an individual at the SBC Championship.

The win is Hansen's third on the season and first conference individual championship victory. In her previous three conference championships (two in the Big South), she had a runner-up finish, a third-place finish, and finished fourth last season.

Ersoy had a tremendous championship tournament as well in her first season with the Chants. The junior came out hot in the final round, shooting a two-under 33 in the first nine holes. She was tied with Hansen going into the back nine.

The second nine saw Ersoy shoot an even-par 36, finishing the day tied for the low round of the day at two-under. Her second-place finish was three-over 216 (77-70-69).

Marie Lunackova shot a two-over 73 in the final round and finished the event tied for fifth with an 11-over 224 (74-77-73).

The Chants had one more player among the top-10 spots in the event. Frantiska Lunackova shot a seven-over 78 in the final round and finished her three rounds tied for eighth after finishing with a 12-over 225 (77-70-78).

Stephanie Henning ended the tournament tied for 37th after shooting a 12-over 83 in the final round. She finished with a 24-over 237 (73-81-83).

Following the tournament, CCU's Malene Krolboll Hansen, Sena Ersoy, and Marie Lunackova were named to the Sun Belt Championship All-Tournament Team.

Rounding out the top-five behind CCU and Troy were Georgia Southern (914) with Texas State just one shot behind the Eagles (915). Three teams in South Alabama, Arkansas State, and Georgia State finished tied for fifth with each shooting a 921.

Texas Arlington finished eighth (925), Appalachian State shot a 930 to finish ninth, Little Rock finished 10th (961), and Louisiana Monroe was 11th (967).

With the Sun Belt crown, the Chants have captured the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals which will be played May 7-9. The sites for this year's regional championships are Tallahassee, Fla., Austin, Texas, Madison, Wis., and Stanford, Calif. The NCAA will announce where CCU will play during its selection show Wednesday, April 25.

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Coastal Rewind 
March 31, 2020: 2014 Big South Volleyball Championship
April 3, 2020: 2013 FCS Football Playoff Win at Montana
April 7, 2020: Coastal Football Beats Kansas for First-Ever Power 5 Win
April 10, 2020: Women's Basketball Defeats Troy in Shootout for First-Place
April 14, 2020: 2014 Big South Men's Basketball Championship Game
April 17, 2020: 2003 Men's Soccer Season
April 21, 2020: Women's Lacrosse Wins 2015 Big South Tournament Game Over Campbell
April 24, 2020: Coastal Baseball Walks-Off Clemson to Give Gilmore His 900th Win
April 28, 2020: Coastal Softball Advances to 2019 Sun Belt Championship Game
May 1, 2020: Women's Soccer Defeats Texas State to Advance in 2017 Sun Belt Championship
May 5, 2020: Volleyball Wins 2017 Sun Belt Championship
May 8, 2020: Football Comes-From-Behind to Beat Liberty in Double-Overtime (2013)