Team looks to bounce back

In the fall, the women's golf team claimed two team championships and finished no lower than third place in any of the tournaments they competed in. Then came the winter break and Mother Nature wreaked havoc on the team's practice schedule. Last week, the Hoosiers traveled to Florida to compete in the Central District Invitational and finished in 12th place. The team will look to rebound this week at the Verizon "Mo"Morial in Houston, Texas. \nThis will mark the third time IU will compete in the "Mo"Morial, which is hosted by Texas A&M. The Hoosiers won the tournament in 2001, and will be looking for a similar result this time around to offset the setback at the Central District Invitational. \nThe No. 21 Hoosiers will be one of 19 teams competing in the tournament. Notable opposing schools include Illinois, Kent State, Kentucky, Louisville, Nebraska, Northwestern, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.\nDue to the snowy weather in Bloomington, the team has been forced to practice indoors for nearly a month. Last week's tournament gave them an opportunity to get outside and play some competitive golf.\n"It was a big help to get out and be able to play and practice outdoors," junior Karen Dennison said. "Practicing indoors is OK, but we really need to play. Playing is the only way to get our feel and to see our real ball flight."\nJunior Danah Ford does not want to dwell on the negatives of last week's performance. She said she sees the "Mo"Morial as an opportunity to right the ship and get back on track.\n"We learned a lot about playing in our first tournament of the spring," Ford said. "We need to take the positives from Florida to Houston and so on. Every tournament takes experience and we have that as a team. We just need to apply it."\nIU's five players competing at the Verizon "Mo"Morial will be senior Cara Stuckey; juniors Ambry Bishop, Dennison, Ford and freshman Molly Redfearn. Scoring for the Verizon "Mo"Morial will be five players with the low four scores counting in each round. Redfearn returns to the lineup for the Hoosiers, replacing junior Mary Lidester at the No. 6 position. Redfearn played in all four tournaments in the fall, but did not make the trip to Florida last week. \n"We were obviously not happy with our first performance of the spring season, but I don't think any of us are down about it," Stuckey said. "We still have confidence in ourselves and each other and know that we are a good team. Hopefully we learned some things from the last tournament so we can be able to compete this week since we have another tough challenge this week"