Indiana State University Athletics

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The Indiana State Sycamores are prepared to host their lone tournament of the year when a ten-team field descends on The Country Club of Terre Haute on Sunday and Monday, April 8-9. Admission to both days of the tournament is free as the event unfolds over the par-72, 6,041-yard layout on the south side of Terre Haute.

Indiana State will welcome Dayton, Evansville, Northern Iowa, Loyola, William Woods, Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois, Green Bay and Fort Wayne for the two-day, 36-hole tournament. As of Friday, the tournament is slated to begin with a shotgun start at 11 a.m. (ET) on Sunday and then a 10 a.m. (ET) beginning on Monday. Live Scoring for the event will be on GoSycamores.com and GolfStat.com.

The Sycamores are coming off a tremendous effort in adverse conditions last week at the WG Fort Wayne Spring Classic when they posted a spectacular opening round of 292 -- the second-best single round in the history of the program. It is only topped a second round score of 287 which came at the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Championship. The 292 is the lowest ever in the first round of a tournament by the Sycamores. ISU came back with a round of 298 in the afternoon which is tied for the 10th-best round in the history of the program. The total score of 590 is the best in the history of the program for a two-round event topping the previous school record of 599 set during the Fall of 2017 at the Butler Fall Invitational. ISU's 590 was good enough for second place.

Thilda Staubo comes into the tournament as the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Women's Golfer Of The Week. Staubo recorded a 70 on the first trip around the course in Fort Wayne and came back with a 71 in the afternoon for a score of 141 and a spot in third place. Staubo's opening round of 70 is tied for the sixth-best round ever by a Sycamore. Her 141 in the two rounds of the tournament is tied for the best this year by the Sycamore as Sierra Hargens had the same scores in winning the Butler Fall Invitational in a three-way, four-person playoff. That score of 141 is tied for the Indiana State program record.

This is a key weekend for the Sycamores in their final tuneup for next week's Missouri Valley Conference Championship set for April 15-17 in Newton, Kan. ISU is currently ranked No. 5 in the league with a 309.72 stroke average through eight tournaments and 18 rounds of play. Staubo ranks eighth in the league with a 76.39 stroke average while Sierra Hargens and Sophie Benetti are tied for 14th with a 77.44 mark. Alex Jennings moved up to No. 36 in the league rankings with an 80.77 mark after recording a pair of 75's last week in Fort Wayne. Dawn Turner averages a mark of 81.69 through 13 rounds of play this year.

This will be the fifth time the Sycamores have hosted the ISU Spring Invitational. ISU has won the team title in each of the previous four outings in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.