MILLBRAE, Calif. – Amidst unsavory weather conditions with heavy winds and a rain delay, the Pepperdine women's golf team took home all the hardware at the Silicon Valley Showcase for the second-consecutive year.  The Waves won by a staggering 35-stroke margin after collecting a three-round score of 857 (287-283-287).  Sophomore Jeneath Wong also marked her first collegiate career victory.
 
"Coach Kacey and I are extremely proud of how the players fought through difficult conditions on a championship course," said head coach Laurie Gibbs.  "Jeneath's first college win was very impressive, especially after also finishing tied for 2nd last week. The players really enjoy competing together as teammates."
 
Four Waves finished in the top-10, led by Wong who shot 7-under to win the tournament with a four-stroke margin.  She has finished in the top-10 in the last three-straight tournaments, including finishing tied for second at The Show at Spanish Trail last week.  It's her seventh career top-10 finish as well, and her third top-10 finish this season.  Senior Lion Higo and junior Lauren Gomez each tied for third, while senior Kaleiya Romero rounded out the top-10 tied for 10^th.
 
Pepperdine, a team ranked #24 in the national poll this week, put in quite a show against the other competitors, defeating #3 UCLA by 35-strokes and fellow West Coast Conference opponents San Francisco and Santa Clara by 52- and 66-strokes respectively.  The Waves also went up against future WCC-affiliate Washington State, amassing a 71-shot lead over the Cougars.  WSU will join the conference as an affiliate member in women's golf for the 2024-25 season.
 
This is the third tournament this 2023-24 season Pepperdine has won, with two having come during the fall slate – Dick McGuire Invitational (Sep 11-12) and Golfweek Red Sky Classic (Sep. 25-27).  It's the first individual title for any Waves' player this season, though the program has collected an individual top-seven finish or higher in every tournament played thus far.  Last year in the 2022-23 campaign, the Waves picked up a share of the title alongside then-ranked #1 Stanford, while Higo was the individual winner.
 
PLAYER SCORES

• Sophomore Jeneath Wong (Melbourne, Australia) shot a 206 (68-68-70) to win the tournament.  She came into the round 4-under after a solid opening 36 holes on day one with a tournament-high eight birdies.  Wong stayed on trend with a pair of birdies on the third and fourth holes to start off strong, though she evened the score before making the turn.  She went 1-under in her final 12 holes without another bogey to finish the day with a four-shot lead over second-place.
• Senior Lion Higo (Gold Coast, Australia) finished with a score of 215 (72-72-71) to tie for third.  She shot 1-under in her first six holes of the day, though had broken even shortly after the turn.  She picked up another birdie on the 16^th, though bogeyed on 18 to close out the day even with par.  This finish marks her 14^th career finish in the top-10, and the fourth this season.
• Junior Lauren Gomez (Murrieta, Calif.) also tied for third with a score of 215 (74-70-71).  Though she bogeyed her first hole of the day, she buckled down shortly after and birdied the fifth.  In a similar fashion, she went 2-over in her following eight holes, but eagled hole 14 to even things back up.  She finished with two birdies today and was one of only two players in the tournament to eagle.  She has finished in the top-10 in 10 tournaments throughout her career thus far, including three this season already.
• Senior Kaleiya Romero (San Jose, Calif.) shot a 221 (73-73-75) to finish tied for 10^th, picking up the 13^th top-10 performance of her career.  She tabbed four birdies in the final round today and finished with seven in total.
• Sophomore Yingzhi Zhu (Nanjing, China) finished tied for 30^th with a score of 235 (76-80-79).  She birdied the seventh hole today and finished with four overall.

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
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THE NUMBERS
Team Scores: 1. Pepperdine 857; 2. UCLA 892; 3. San Jose State 899; 4. San Francisco 909; 5. Santa Clara 923; T6. UC Davis 926; T6. Long Beach State 926; 8. Washington State 928; 9. UC Irvine 935; 10 Wyoming 952.
 
Individual Scores: 1. Jeneath Wong (Pepperdine) 206; 2. Riana Mission (San Francisco) 210; 3. Lauren Gomez (Pepperdine) 215; T5. Lion Higo (Pepperdine) 215; T3. Natalie Vo (UCLA) 215; 6. Kajsa Arwefjall (SJSU) 216; 7. Zoe Campos (UCLA) 217; 8. Caroline Canales (UCLA) 218; 9. Angelina Kim (LBSU) 219; T10. Kaleiya Romero (Pepperdine) 221; T10. Kate Villegas (UCLA) 221.
 
NEXT UP
Pepperdine will continue on with the Spring campaign at the Fresno State Classic on March 24-26.