April 16, 2026
In a surprising upset, the St. Mary’s University Women’s Golf team won its first Lone Star Conference Championship on Wednesday.
The women’s team, ranked No.16, defeated No. 2 Dallas Baptist University 4-1 in the semifinals, and West Texas A&M 3-2. It is the first Lone Star Conference title for the Women’s Golf team and the fourth in school history. The Rattlers won the Heartland Conference titles in 2002, 2004, and 2016.
It is the third LSC Tournament title in St. Mary’s history, as the Women’s Tennis team won the 2022 and 2023 tournaments.
“Our team battled hard all day, and we saw some of our best golf,” said Director of Golf Connor McCarthy. “It was a complete team effort. I’m really proud of their performance today and their hard work all year.”
St. Mary’s earns the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA West Regional, which begins May 4 at the Pueblo Country Club in Pueblo, Colo. The team finished fifth at the NCAA Division II Regional Preview on the same course earlier in the year.
The remainder of the 18-team field will be announced on April 26.
Taylor Wilczek broke the St. Mary’s single-round record and tied the Rockwall Golf and Athletic Club course record, shooting a 64 in the semifinals. Wilczek collected 11 birdies (one stroke under par) and one eagle (two strokes under par) in the 18 holes, breaking the previous StMU record of 65 held by both Maria Regina Gonzalez and Savannah Dupre. It is Wilczek’s fifth round in the 60s this season to tie the school record from last year by Libby Kilbride, and moves her into second on the school’s charts with eight rounds in the 60s for her career.
Wilczek birdied the first four holes, as well as five of her final six, en route to the six-stroke win over DBU’s Ella Cheek, the Lone Star Conference Golfer of the Year.
Sophomore Brielle Burns also posted a career-low round in the semifinals, winning her match by six strokes, 68 to 74. The 68 betters her previous low of 69 from the second round of the Emerald Coast Collegiate on March 9. Burns also clinched the win for the Rattlers in the finals, coming off the 18th green with a 71-to-9 win over West Texas A&M’s Kara Holm to give the Gold and Blue a 3-2 victory.
Manon Verret became the third Rattler to shoot a round in the 60s this season when she fired a 4-under 68 in the finals to put St. Mary’s up 1-0, winning by two strokes over the Lady Buffs Monica Del Valle Pena. Twice before, Verret has shot a 70 this season, and she won 74-to-78 in the semifinals.
Both sophomores Sabree Lefebvre and Sophia Perkins tied in the finals. Lefebvre shot a 72, while Perkins tallied 77 strokes to earn StMU 0.5 points each. Lefebvre won her semifinal match 71-to-73, while Perkins bounced back after dropping her semifinal bout 74-to-67. Perkins trailed by two shots beginning the 12th hole in the finals, but scored four pars and a birdie with one bogey in the final six holes to work the tie.
Lefebvre and Mia Hammerschmid went back-and-forth with each leading for five holes and spending eight holes tied as the duo each shot an even-par 72.