To kick off the spring season, Notre Dame traveled to Parrish, Fla. for the Central District Classic. The Irish had high hopes going into the tournament, but finished a disappointing 13th out of 15 teams.
Junior Katie Brophy said the team is determined to improve its showing in future tournaments.
"We went into this tournament with the wrong attitude," she said. "We didn't have the confidence we've had in prior tournaments or that we hope to have in tournaments to come."
Irish coach Debby King said the team had a meeting after the tournament and knows what they need to do to improve.
"We talked about it at dinner," she said. "It's just a matter of being confident in their heads.
"I didn't see anything wrong with their swings. It was all between the ears."
The Irish, ranked 31st by golfstat.com, were in 12th place after two rounds, but shot 33 over par in the third and final round to drop behind Nebraska and into 13th with a team score of 939.
Missouri, golfstat.com's 13th ranked team, won the tournament, edging No. 20 Arkansas by two strokes 879 to 881. No. 14 Baylor finished third, 13 strokes off the pace and No. 14 LSU and No. 23 Michigan rounded out the top five.
Stacy Lewis of Arkansas and Amy Schmucker of Michigan tied for first overall with even par scores of 216.
At the bottom of the leaderboard, Indiana finished 15th and last with a 967. Kansas State came in at 14th, just three shots behind the Irish at 942.
Texas A&M, Ohio State, Michigan State, SMU, Texas Tech and Northwestern rounded out field.
Brophy shot a 231 (77-74-80), her 11th career team-leading tournament and good enough to tie for 39th with Rachel Meikle of Michigan State. The Spartans finished eighth, 21 shots ahead of the Irish.
Sophomore Nariko Nakazaki was the second lowest scorer for the Irish with a 232 (78-75-79), tied for 41st overall. Her third round 79 led the team.
Freshman Jane Lee shot a 238 (80-78-80) to take the third spot for the Irish, and junior Suzie Hayes finished one shot behind, shooting 79-78-82 during the three rounds. Sophomore Stacie Brown finished out the roster for the Irish, posting a 24-over-par 242 (79-78-85)
The Irish have the next two weeks off before flying to the Virgin Islands for the St. Croix Collegiate Classic March 11-13.
"We're really excited about the [St. Croix Classic]," Brophy said. "We're ready to go there and win. Plus it's nice to get out of the cold."
