NIU women’s golf finished tied for 8th place at the 2012 MAC Women’s Golf Championships at Hawthorns Golf & Country Club in Fishers, Ind. Friday.

The Huskies shot an opening round 333, while Ball State lead the field after posting a 298 and Kent State is second with a score of 301.

Senior Kelsie Passolt led the way for the Huskies after shooting a seven over par, 79, in the first round.

“Coming into the weekend, we knew that we could have been able to finish in the middle of the pack but the first round would be a different story, said NIU coach Pam Tyska. “Going into the weekend I would have loved if we were able to finish sixth or seventh. The first day put us in a hole and we never climbed back out of it.”

Round two for the Huskies was not any better, as they continue to slide down the leader board with a total score of 341, with that score they fell to last place heading into the last day of the MAC Championship.

Junior Allie Parthie had the best round for the Huskies on Saturday as she shot a 79. After two rounds. Parthie, who began the day in 35th, lost five strokes off her first round and is now in 27th place with a total score of 163 heading into the final round.

In the final round, the Huskies played 16 strokes better than Saturday. With that round the Huskies finished tied for last with Bowling Green State with a three day total of 999 and Kent State takes home the MAC Championship this year with a score of 908. It is Kent State’s 14th straight MAC Women’s Golf title.

Passolt finished her NIU career with a bang, turning in her lowest score of the season for a three-round event carding a 223 (78-80-75) to tie for eighth place, a career-best finish at the MAC Championships. Her final round 75 was her lowest round of the season.

“Finishing in the top ten was surreal for me, I wasn’t expecting to finish that well,” Passolt said. “On Sunday I went out there with no regrets and tried to play my best. I was trying not to cry on 16 after I teed off, but when I walked off on 18 I couldn’t stop crying as I saw coach there. We hugged each other and were crying together.”