WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. – The University of Northwestern women's golf team failed to make up any ground in the third round of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Championship on Monday, but the Eagles still maintained plenty of buffer space to finish the tournament in second place. UNW's three-day score of 944 was 18 strokes behind Concordia University (Wis.), but 38 strokes ahead of third place Aurora University.

Final Results

Northwestern needed to best the Falcons by eight strokes on Monday to win the event and grab the NACC's ticket into next May's NCAA Tournament. UNW went the other direction though, firing a 387 at the Canyon and Arbor course at Trappers Turn, 11 strokes behind Concordia's 376.

Naomi Black (Darlington, Wis./Darlington) and Sarah Poppema (Embarrass, Minn./Babbitt Embarrass/Vermillion Comm. College) both finished with top 10 scores in the 53-woman field as both rounded out the championship with matching 93s. Black's three-day total was 225, which was good enough for sixth place overall, while Poppema was just one stroke behind her teammate with a 226, taking seventh place.

Laura Gaffney (Coleraine, Minn./Greenway) rounded out her championship with a 96 on Monday, while Samantha Davis (Waseca, Minn./Waseca) was the fourth individual to contribute to the Eagles' team score as she carded a 105. Barbara Murray (Chisago City, Minn./Chisago Lakes) shot a 107 to finish her first conference finale but the freshman's score did not count towards Northwestern's total. All five UNW players finished in the top 27 individual places.

For being top 10 finishers, both Black and Poppema were named to the NACC All-Conference team. For Black, a freshman, 2013 represents her first All-NACC selection while it's the second for Poppema, who was an all-conference honoree in 2012 too.

UNW head coach Billy Aune was voted the NACC Coach of the Year.

Concordia's Nina Puch was a big reason as to why the Falcons won the tournament. Puch easily won individual medalist honors, finishing her 45-hole tournament with a 42-80-83-205, 15 strokes ahead of the closest competitor.

The NACC Championship is the final event on the Eagles' fall schedule, with a handful of meets expected to be played in the spring of 2014.