Coach Julie Manning worried her women’s golf team would struggle to avoid finishing last in the weekend’s instate meet, but the ISU linksters came up with a fourth place finish.

The team shot a 939 in Iowa City to top six of the 10 competing schools. Senior Cathy Matthews led the way, shooting a 236 over three rounds to finish 16th.

“I was thrilled,” Manning said. “I thought we were on the downslide, but the team really surprised me; they played well — especially the four, five and six golfers.”

Seniors Sara Linneman and Fiona Watson each shot one good round but struggled overall. They shot 239 and 241 respectively.

“Those girls really carried us, those positions are always really important,” Watson said. “It may have been that they were a little more comfortable playing in Iowa.

“We’ve really been working hard in the past few weeks, and they finally put up scores that they’re capable of,” she said.

Redshirt freshman Heather Elenbaas and true freshman Cathy Ennis tied with Linneman for 19th, while fellow first-year player Noel Jacobusse shot a 243.

Indiana won the team title with a 902, with Wisconsin finishing second with a 919. Purdue’s Colleen Cashman earned medalist honors with a 223.

Iowa and Minnesota tied for fifth in the field after logging scores of 942.

“It is always a big incentive to beat Iowa, especially on their own course,” Manning said. “We also beat some teams that we had struggled with earlier in the year, like Minnesota, Northwestern and Kansas. We’re going up the ladder. It’s too bad we started a little slow, but we’re getting there.”

ISU will travel to Oklahoma City, Okla., on April 26-28 for the Big 12 Championships to wrap up the regular season.