Lead erased Sunday

The women's golf team entered the final round of the Indiana Invitational yesterday with a seven-stroke lead, hoping to win its first tournament of the year.\nThe Hoosiers are still hoping.\nThey lost their lead to a surging Michigan squad that won its fifth tournament of the year. Michigan finished with a 919, and IU shot a 921.\n"It's kind of disappointing to lose a seven-shot lead, but I think we played very well (Saturday)," head coach Sam Carmichael said. "And (Sunday), the players really hung in there and played hard. Finishing second was excellent; it was just the way we finished that was disappointing."\nIU led the way on the first day and first two rounds of the tournament Saturday. The team shot a 303 first round and a 305 second to forge a seven stroke lead over Illinois (615). \nSophomore Karen Dennison shot a three-under par 71 to lead the Hoosiers individually in the first round. Senior captain Tiffany Fisher shot a 76, and junior Cara Stuckey shot a 77. \nIn the second round, sophomore Mary Lidester fired a 72 to lead the team. \nBut, in the final round, the team shot a 313 as Michigan shot a 301 to jump from third place to first. Fisher shot a 76, Dennison a 78 and Lidester a 79 to lead the team in the last round.\n"It's a little disappointing because we didn't play our best (Sunday)," Dennison said. "But we'll come back next week. It gives us an incentive to play well because we don't like getting beat on our home course."\nIllinois finished the tournament in third place with a 923 team score, followed by Kent State and Michigan State with scores of 924 and 925, respectively. Fisher said the competition proved to be tough. \n"Any time we go against teams in the Big Ten, I feel we always get really good competition," she said. "The Big Ten is just a really strong conference."\nMichigan State senior Emily Bastel took first in the individual standings with a 219. Three Hoosiers cracked the top 10 as Dennison tied for fifth with a 227, Lidester tied for eighth with a 230 and Fisher tied for 10th with a 231.\nPlaying at home gave the Hoosiers the chance to compete on a familiar course. Dennison said having local knowledge of how to play some of the holes gave the team an advantage, although other teams seemed to learn quickly.\n"We definitely had an advantage, because these greens can be really tricky," Dennison said. "But the rest of the teams played them pretty well, so I guess they had them figured out."\nThe team next competes in the Hawkeye Invitational this weekend in Iowa City, Iowa. Carmichael said the Indiana Invite could help teach the team what it takes to win. \n"They had their hearts set on taking this championship, and this is one they wanted to win," Carmichael said. "But sometimes a loss, and the way we lost today, will make us a little better in future tournaments"