UCLA overcame several rain delays and stiff competition from a top-notch field to win its second Division I Women's Golf Championships team title May 18-22 at Auburn's Grand National Golf Course. The NCAA title was UCLA's 92nd (25th women's title) -- best among all Division I schools -- and its second of the 2003-04 academic year. The Bruins also won a women's gymnastics crown in April. (UCLA also won the Women's College World Series May 31 for its 26th women's title -- see story, page 15.)

The Bruins played the final round in 2-over par 290 and finished with a 72-hole score of 4-under 1,148. Second-place Oklahoma State was three shots back and top-ranked Duke was 11 strokes off the winning pace. California finished fourth, followed by Vanderbilt, which posted a fifth-place finish while playing with only four players.

The tournament was close throughout, with UCLA trailing Oklahoma State by one after the first day of play, then forging a one-stroke advantage over Duke after day two. The Bruins stretched their margin to five shots after the third round, then played the final nine holes in 5-under par to clinch the win. UCLA coach Carrie Forsyth called the post-championship feeling "one of the greatest I've ever had."

"We knew we needed to come out and play solidly to leave here with the trophy," she said. The Bruins won their first women's golf championship in 1991 in a sudden-death playoff over San Jose State.

In the individual competition, California's Sarah Huarte shot a final-round 69 for a four-round tally of 278 to win the individual title by a stroke over Oklahoma State's Karin Sjodin. Huarte birdied Nos. 2, 8, 9 and 12 in the final round to stave off Sjodin, who birdied three of the final seven holes to finish a shot behind at minus-9 for the tournament. Huarte, who finished in a tie for 97th at last year's tournament, compiled 25 birdies during the four rounds -- the most in the field -- and she was a collective minus-11 on the par 5s.

"This was my fourth time in the tournament and I have just never had a great game before, but I played consistent this week," Huarte said. "It was stressful watching Karin (Sjodin) putt on the last hole. This is by far the biggest tournament that I have ever won."

Sjodin said, "It's not that fun to finish second, but after finishing eighth in the regional this is great. We are a young team and should be very good next season."

Rain forced delays in three of the four rounds. The final round, in fact, was completed on Saturday, a day after the tournament was scheduled to end.

"After the rain delay from (Friday), we knew that we needed to regroup and come out and play solidly," Forsyth said after saying her team got off to a "rough start" in the final round. "We played much better (on Saturday). This means everything to our university, our staff and our girls."

Susie Mathews had the lowest four-round total for the Bruins, firing a four-round 280 with a final-round 72 to place third, the highest by a UCLA golfer since Kathy Choi finished third at the 1996 championships.

"It's an absolutely great feeling to be national champions," Mathews said. "I like the sound of that."

Teammate Charlotte Mayorkas finished four strokes behind Mathews to place fourth at 4-under. Her final-round 70 included birdies on Nos. 12, 16 and 17. Gina Umeck was the next highest-placing Bruin with a 291 after a final-round 73. She finished in a four-way tie with Allison Fouch (Michigan State), Elizabeth Janangelo (Duke) and Annie Thurman (Oklahoma State) for 16th place.

Oklahoma State coach Amy Weeks said her team was in position to win, "but we just ran out of golf holes. (UCLA) had some clutch birdies and pars down the stretch."

Oklahoma State almost wasn't in any position at all. The Cowgirls had to survive a one-hole sudden-death playoff just to advance out of regional play.

UCLA's four-round total of 1,148 was the lowest at an NCAA women's championship, and the Bruins' three-stroke victory was the closest tournament win since Georgia held off Duke by three strokes in 2001.

California's Huarte put the exclamation point on her individual title with a final-round 69. After a first-round 73, she played the final 54 holes in 11-under par. She is the niece of former college football quarterback John Huarte, who won a Heisman trophy at the University of Notre Dame in 1964.

"I putted awesome this week, though I was a little streaky," Huarte said. "My hitting got better throughout the week. I hit my irons close. I didn't have to make any extremely long puts, mostly 15-footers. This may be up there with my uncle's Heisman. I have to give him a call right after this."

"This is a dream come true for her," said California coach Nancy McDaniel. "Sarah worked so hard for this. It is not a bit shocking to me that she won."

Team results

1. UCLA, 289-283-286-290 -- 1,148; 2. Oklahoma St., 288-293-282-288 -- 1,151; 3. Duke, 289-284-292-294 -- 1,159; 4. California, 309-282-292-289 -- 1,172; 5. Vanderbilt, 298-284-302-296 -- 1,180; 6. (tie) Texas, 302-295-293-294 -- 1,184; and Washington, 305-298-297-284 -- 1,184; 8. Ohio St., 296-292-303-296 -- 1,187; 9. Georgia, 302-297-293-298 -- 1,190; 10. Arizona St., 310-291-291-299 -- 1,191; 11. Tennessee, 303-297-301-292 -- 1,193; 12. (tie) Southern California, 307-286-305-297 -- 1,195; and Stanford, 303-296-298-298 -- 1,195; 14. Wake Forest, 298-289-310-299 -- 1,196; 15. (tie) New Mexico, 304-292-304-297 -- 1,197; Arizona, 302-300-298-297 -- 1,197; Furman, 302-296-302-297 -- 1,197; and North Carolina, 304-300-300-293 -- 1,197; 19. (tie) Baylor, 299-308-295-296 -- 1,198; and Florida St., 301-301-295-301 -- 1,198; 21. UNLV, 308-299-302-295 -- 1,204; 22. Purdue, 307-294-308-296 -- 1,205; 23. Texas A&M, 306-302-302-301 -- 1,211; 24. Michigan St., 302-310-298-305 -- 1,215.

Individual results

1. Sarah Huarte, California, 73-69-67-69 -- 278; 2. Karin Sjodin, Oklahoma St., 71-69-68-71 -- 279; 3. Susie Mathews, UCLA, 71-69-68-72 -- 280; 4. Charlotte Mayorkas, UCLA, 74-69-71-70 -- 284; 5. Jessica Shepley, Tennessee, 73-72-71-70 -- 286; 6. (tie) Sofie Andersson, California, 75-68-71-73 -- 287; Sarah Jacobs, Vanderbilt, 72-69-75-71 -- 287; Virada Nirapathpongporn Duke, 71-72-72-72 -- 287; Mallory Underwood, Oklahoma St., 72-73-70-72 -- 287; and Kristen White, Ohio St., 75-71-73-68 -- 287; 11. Paige Mackenzie, Washington, 73-78-69-68 -- 288; 12. Allison Hanna, Ohio St., 69-73-76-71 -- 289; 13. (tie) Ashley Gomes, San Jose St., 70-75-72-73 -- 290; Christine Hallstrom, Wake Forest, 76-70-73-71 -- 290; and Brittany Lang, Duke, 72-70-74-74 -- 290; 16. (tie) Allison Fouch, Michigan St., 70-72-73-76 -- 291; Elizabeth Janangelo, Duke, 73-70-77-71 -- 291; Annie Thurman, Oklahoma St., 73-76-72-70 -- 291; and Gina Umeck, UCLA, 71-72-75-73 -- 291; 20. (tie) Kelly Froelich, Georgia, 79-74-68-71 -- 292; and Josefin Svenningsson, Baylor, 74-72-72-74 -- 292; 22. (tie) Elizabeth Allen, Cal St. Northridge, 73-74-73-73 -- 293; Meaghan Francella, North Carolina, 74-69-71-79 -- 293; Adrienne Gautreaux, South Carolina, 73-72-78-70 -- 293; Beth Hermes, Purdue, 71-72-78-72 -- 293; Janice Olivencia, Texas, 75-69-78-71 -- 293; and Jenny Suh, Furman, 77-72-72-72 -- 293.

28. (tie) Erica Blasberg, Arizona, 78-73-71-72 -- 294; Chris Brady, Vanderbilt, 74-72-77-71 -- 294; Candy Herrera, Oklahoma St., 72-75-72-75 -- 294; Sunny Oh, UNLV, 72-75-72-75 -- 294; and Theresa Paik, Furman, 75-73-76-70 -- 294; 33. (tie) Irene Cho, Southern California, 73-70-78-74 -- 295; Christine Fernandez, New Mexico, 79-73-72-71 -- 295; Adrienne Millican, East Caro., 72-77-77-69 -- 295; and Ashley Prange, North Carolina, 72-72-79-72 -- 295; 37. (tie) Kailin Downs, New Mexico, 76-71-76-73 -- 296; Alissa Kuczka, Arizona St., 76-73-74-73 -- 296; Angela Rho, Stanford, 76-72-76-72 -- 296; Carrie Sordel, Florida St., 77-73-73-73 -- 296; Perry Swenson, Texas, 75-74-74-73 -- 296; Tiffany Tavee, Arizona St., 77-71-72-76 -- 296; and Courtney Wood, Vanderbilt, 75-72-72-77 -- 296; 44. (tie) Rachel Bell, Southern California, 77-73-76-71 -- 297; Leigh Anne Hardin, Duke, 73-73-72-79 -- 297; Christa Spedding, Texas A&M, 73-76-74-74 -- 297; Lauren Todd, Stanford, 77-75-72-73 -- 297; and Whitney Wade, Georgia, 74-74-74-75 -- 297; 49. (tie) Jackie Beers, Georgia, 75-75-74-74 -- 298; Charmaine Erasmus, Arizona St., 80-75-71-72 -- 298; Lisa Ferrero, Texas, 78-76-71-73 -- 298; Anna Grzebien, Duke, 75-72-74-77 -- 298; Hannah Jun, UCLA, 76-73-72-77 -- 298; Cassandra Kirkland, Arizona, 76-76-73-73 -- 298; Violeta Retamoza, Tennessee, 73-75-75-75 -- 298; and Krystal Shearer, UCLA, 73-75-75-75 -- 298.

57. (tie) Samantha Richdale, Illinois St., 73-74-77-75 -- 299; and Onnarin Sattayabanphot, Purdue, 74-75-77-73 -- 299; 59. (tie) Sarah Johnston, Furman, 75-74-77-74 -- 300; Meredith Jones, Baylor, 78-76-75-71 -- 300; and Caroline Larsson, Florida St., 78-76-71-75 -- 300; 62. (tie) Laura Cross, Southern Methodist, 77-74-77-73 -- 301; Tanya Dergal, Southern California, 80-72-73-76 -- 301; Ashley Hoagland, Wake Forest, 72-71-81-77- 301; Lindsay Knowlton, Ohio St., 76-70-78-77 -- 301; Alejandra Martin, Arizona, 74-75-77-75 -- 301; and Beth Marushak, North Carolina, 78-79-73-71 -- 301; 68. Lindsay Morgan, Washington, 78-75-79-70 -- 302; 69. (tie) Teesha Ash, Tennessee, 79-73-74-77 -- 303; Mandy Goins, Wake Forest, 73-72-81-77 -- 303; Elena Kurokawa, UNLV, 74-73-81-75 -- 303; Sung Ea Lee, Washington, 76-73-77-77 -- 303; Stephanie Lue, Stanford, 77-73-80-73 -- 303; Nicole Melton, Texas A&M, 77-73-75-78 -- 303; and Kristen Svicarovich, Vanderbilt, 77-71-78-77.

76. (tie) Myrte Eikenaar, Purdue, 83-70-77-74 -- 304; Katrina Leckovic, New Mexico, 74-75-78-77 -- 304; Deborah Means, Wake Forest, 77-76-77-74 -- 304; and Katie Quinney, Florida St., 77-74-72-81 -- 304; 80. (tie) Ashley Bickerton, Washington, 78-85-72-70 -- 305; Hwanhee Lee, UNLV, 78-76-75-76 -- 305; Catalina Marin, Southern California, 77-74-78-76 -- 305; and Erin Tone, Arizona St., 77-72-74-82 -- 305; 84. (tie) Devan Andersen, Texas, 80-79-70-77 -- 306; Michaelyn Morgan, Baylor, 73-77-76-80 -- 306; Ashley Rollins, New Mexico, 75-73-79-79 -- 306; and Mariana Salazar, Texas, 74-76-78-78 -- 306; 88. (tie) Jaclyn Burch, Florida St., 77-79-79-72 -- 307; Golda Johansson, Tennessee, 79-77-81-70 -- 307; Natalia Nicholls, Georgia, 77-74-78-78 -- 307; Jenni Tangtiphaiboontana, Stanford, 73-76-77-81 -- 307; and Lisa Tyler, Georgia, 76-75-77-79 -- 307; 93. (tie) Lani Elston, Arizona, 74-77-80-77 -- 308; Shannon Johnson, New Mexico, 79-75-78-76 -- 308; Kim Kouwabunpat, Stanford, 78-77-73-80 -- 308; Kelli McKandless, Baylor, 74-83-73-78 -- 308; Amber Prange, Washington, 80-72-80-76 -- 308; Seema Sadekar, UNLV, 84-75-77-72 -- 308; Sophia Sheridan, California, 81-79-76-72 -- 308; and Anna Temple, California, 84-69-80-75 -- 308.

101. (tie) Veronica Felibert, Southern California, 81-71-79-78 -- 309; Ann Marie Kersten, Michgan St., 79-78-77-75 -- 309; Kyla Neal, Texas A&M, 82-74-79-74 -- 309; Ginny Potthoff, Texas A&M, 78-80-76-75 -- 309; Anna Rehnholm, Baylor, 78-83-75-73 -- 309; and Maria Stinson, Purdue, 79-77-76-77 -- 309; 107. (tie) Monique Gesualdi, Furman, 75-77-77-81 -- 310; and Sarah Martin, Michigan St., 75-83-72-80 -- 310; 109. Mar Garcia, Arizona, 80-76-77-78 -- 311; 110. (tie) Claire Dury, California, 80-76-78-78 -- 312; Katie Miller, North Carolina, 80-80-77-75 -- 312; and Brenda Norris, Texas A&M, 78-79-77-78 -- 312; 113. (tie) Dana Je, Ohio St., 76-81-76-80 -- 313; and Ashley Knoll, Oklahoma St., 86-78-74-75 -- 313; 115. Young Pak, UNLV, 85-79-78-73 -- 315; 116. (tie) Dayna Burleigh, Michigan St., 82-83-76-76 -- 317; Heather Rose, Michigan St., 78-77-84-78 -- 317; Connor Atkinson, Furman, 79-77-79-83 -- 318; and Holly Cantwell, Tennessee, 78-77-81-82 -- 318; 120. Romi Irons, North Carolina, 80-84-80-75 -- 319; 121. Jessica Castle, Wake Forest, 85-78-79-79 -- 321; 122. Alison Curdt, Florida St., 70-78-86-89 -- 323; 123. Allyson Harvie, Ohio St., 82-78-84-82 -- 326; 124. Lindsay Anderson, Arizona St., 82-83-91-78 -- 334; 125. Caroline Haase, Purdue, 84-87-84-85 -- 340.