The Cyclone women’s golf team returned home Tuesday after a sixth-place tie with Southern Mississippi at the 54-hole Embassy Suites/Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.

Though the team moved up from eighth to sixth place over the course of the tournament, senior Leanne Owens said players were disappointed in their overall performance.

“We should be shooting under 310 each meet,” Owens said.

The team shot consistently, scoring rounds of 317, 314 and 316, resulting in a team score of 947. Owens shot a three-round score of 238 (80-81-77) at the tournament. She finished third for the Cyclones and tied for 28th overall.

“I liked the format a lot,” she said. “It was a nice course and we had a lot of fun playing it; we just wish we would have done a bit better.”

Freshman standout Christi Athas lead the team in scoring, carding a three-round total of 227 (76-76-75), and finishing tied for seventh place. Athas shot a two-round score of 151 to take home first place in the Big Three Invitational Sept. 2 in Des Moines.

Redshirt junior Lisa Meshke also helped the Cyclone cause at the tournament with a score of 233 (78-74-81), finishing tied for 17th place. Sophomore Erica Dahl, who competed as an individual, placed in the top 25 with a score of 238.

Iowa State finished behind Big 12 Conference opponents Nebraska and Texas A&M, who placed third and fourth, respectively. Owens said the Cyclones hope to better their scores against Cornhuskers Monday and Tuesday at the Chip-N-Club Invitational in Lincoln, Neb.

“We are excited for that tournament; we are the defending champions,” Owens said.

Owens said the team will be looking to Athas to lead them in scoring.

“Our new freshman [Athas] is putting up consistent scores,” Owens said.

Improving from the last tournament is a goal the team is hoping to meet, Owens said.

“We set a lot of records last year,” she said.

“We have the ability to shoot low. We see what we need to do now [to improve] and we’ll get it done.”