Watching the NCAA women’s golf selection show at Buffalo Wild Wings in Starkville, the Mississippi State team murmured, laughed and clapped in the lead up to the bracket reveal.
A few players even guffawed when rival Ole Miss was displayed on the screen.
Just after 5 p.m., the Bulldogs learned their postseason fate. MSU is headed to the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in Norman, Oklahoma, for the NCAA Tournament as the No. 11 seed.
The regional will be played May 6-8.
This is MSU’s first tournament appearance since 2015.
“This is my first regional, and it’s super exciting for me to be able to experience this,” sophomore Aubree Jones said. “We’ve put in the work and it’s exciting to see it pay off.”
The Bulldogs enter the contest after finishing seventh in the stroke play portion of last week’s Southeastern Conference Championships — the team’s best finish in program history. MSU fell in the quarterfinal round to South Carolina.
“We’re playing two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior, and for them to rise up and make it into the match-play component was a huge goal of ours,” MSU coach Ginger Brown-Lemm said.
Joining MSU in the Norman regional are SEC foes Florida and Ole Miss. The Gators are seeded first while the Rebels are seeded ninth.
The last time MSU appeared in Norman during the postseason was 2013. That season, the Bulldogs reached the NCAA Championships after finishing third in the regional.
“We love Oklahoma,” Brown-Lemm said. “We’ve got great juju and we’re excited.”
Following the four regionals, the top 24 squads and 12 individuals will head to Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships May 16-22.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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