DeKALB – The Huskies impressed on the second day of the Johnie Imes Invitational, as they finished third along with one Huskie finishing in the top ten individually.

NIU earned a team score of 27 over par, 891, in the invitational. The Huskies were only three strokes behind second place Lipscomb University and six strokes ahead of Oral Roberts University.

This was NIU’s third invitational of the season, and they earned their first top-three finish after finishing tenth at the Coeur D’Alene Collegiate Invitational in Idaho last week.

Head coach Kim Kester said that weather was more of a factor on day three than it was the previous two days.

“Weather was a bit more challenging today (Wednesday),” Kester said, “and the ladies hung through.”

Graduate student Sydney Naro finished tied for sixth place individually at the invite. Naro finished three over par on day one, two under par on day two and two over par on the third day. This was her second appearance in the starting lineup. Kester said that “it was great to see” Naro placed in the top-10.

Senior Ahra Ko also finished in the top-20, as she tied for 17th place. Ko finished three over par on day one, one over par on day two and four over par on the third day.

Junior Jasmine Ly finished tied for 25th with three other golfers and she finished five over par on day one, four under par on day two and nine over par on day three.

The University of Missouri was the champion of the invite as they finished with a score of 13-over par, 877, with a large margin between second place with Lipscomb finishing with a score of 24-over par 888.

Oral Roberts senior Sarah Bell was the individual champion as she finished four under par as she beat out Florida International University’s sophomore Karissa Kilby, who finished two under par.

NIU finished seventh in the Johnie Imes Invitational last year with a score of 28 over par 892.

The second round of the tournament is what put NIU in a good position to place for a medal. The Huskies had Naro finish two strokes under par and had Ly finish four strokes under par. NIU finished day two in third place and maintained their positioning through day three.

“Round two is the kind of golf we know these ladies can play,” Kester said. “We are still working on putting three rounds together like that.”

Going into day three, the Huskies had sole possession of third place but the Northern Kentucky University Norse were close behind. Throughout the day, the Huskies and the Norse kept overtaking each other for third place, but by the end of the match, NIU remained in third at 27 over par, 891, and Northern Kentucky finished in fifth at 34 over par, 898.

The Huskies next competition will be the Pat Bradley Invitational in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, from Oct. 15 to Oct. 17.