MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. – Eastern Kentucky overcame a 12-shot deficit to move into second place during the final round of the 2008 Ohio Valley Conference Women's Golf Championship on Wednesday, but the Colonels couldn’t hold on and finished third, two shots behind second place Murray State. Jacksonville State was the winner, finishing 21 shots ahead of the pack.

On the first six holes of the final round, Eastern Kentucky cut a 12-shot deficit for second place down to two. Soon after making the turn, the Colonels pushed ahead of Murray State to take possession of second place. EKU built a six-shot lead over the Racers between holes 12 and 15.

Murray State didn’t go away. The Racers closed within two shots on the final three holes. The two teams would exchange places three times over the final three holes. With one player from each team still playing, the Colonels had surged in front by one shot. However, as the final two completed the final round, MSU’s Megan McKinney shot par on two of the three while EKU’s Kelli Warner pared just one hole.

Eastern finished with a three round total of 957. Murray State closed play with a 955 total. JSU’s winning score was 934. Eastern Illinois (968) placed fourth, 11 shots behind the Colonels. Samford (969) turned in a fifth place finish.

The eight-team, three-round, three-day event was contested at The Shoals Golf Course. The Shoals features two courses, the OVC Championship is being played on The Fighting Joe, a par-72, 6,154-yard course.

Freshman Gabrielle Andersson and senior Leslie Booth led EKU and tied for sixth overall. Both fired a three round total of 237 and both turned in their best scores in the final round. Andersson’s final round 75 was nine shots better than her opening round 84. Booth’s 76 in the final round was an eight-shot improvement over her first round performance.

Warner tied for 13th with a three-round total of 241. Charlotte Lundell and Melissa Rosloniec each concluded play with their best rounds. Lundell (243) placed 17th. Rosloniec (252) tied for 30th.

Andersson’s final round 75 was three shots better than her second round score. After a bogey to begin play, the freshman shot par or better on the next eight holes and made the turn at one-under. Included on the front nine was a pair of birdies. She added another birdie on the back nine and finished the round with only one double-bogey.

Booth completed the final round without anything higher than a bogey. She birdied the par-4 number three hole and was at even-par after five. She made the turn at three-over and only added two more shots to that total after 16 complete holes. She birdied number 17 and shot par on the final hole to finish the round four-over.

After a stellar second round 73, Warner opened the third round with bogeys on five of the first nine holes. She put together a streak of three straight holes of par on the back nine, but three double-bogeys led to an 84.

Lundell began the day with a pair of pars and then birdied the par-4 number three hole. A double-bogey on number six, followed by two bogeys, pushed the freshman to five-over but she rebounded with another birdie on number nine and made the turn at four-over. Lundell added another birdie on number 11 and looked to finish strong as she shot par or better on five of the first eight holes on the back nine. A double-bogey on the final hole left her at eight-over for the round, her lowest of the event.

Rosloniec bogeyed three of the first four holes, but two pars and a birdie on the next five left the senior four-over after the first nine. Despite and eight on the par-5 number 12 hole, Rosloniec concluded the final round with an 83, her best of the week.

3. EASTERN KENTUCKY 334-309-314--957
T6. Gabrielle Andersson 84-78-75--237
T6. Leslie Booth 84-77-76--237
T13. Kelli Warner 84-73-84--241
17. Charlotte Lundell 82-81-80--243
T30. Melissa Rosloniec 85-84-83--252