Behind a strong performance by sophomore golfer Cathy Matthews, the Iowa State Cyclones finished a close third place in the 1995 Northwestern Wildcat Invitational on Monday.

Matthews, who finished in a tie for third, became the fourth ISU golfer to place in the top three in a tournament this fall.

Matthews shot rounds of 70-78-79 (233) over the 54-hole course to finish just 14 strokes over par.

“I am happy with Cathy, that gives us some depth; it is nice to see that we have four golfers that can win a tournament,” Head Coach Julie Manning said. “As a team, we played really well.”

The course, a par 73, was described by Manning as an extremely tough course, with very fast greens. The invitational featured fifteen teams.

“This course was extremely tough,” Manning said. “The greens were tour-type. Putting was the main ingredient of this tournament.”

“The scores were high for the tournament,” Manning said.

The tournament medalist honors went to Ohio State golfer Julie Luciuk.

Luciuk lead the Buckeyes to the tournament title with a team score of 944. That total was just 10 strokes ahead of the Cyclone team.

“This finish tells me and the team that Indiana and Ohio State are within grasp,” Manning said. “Next week, when we play in the Indiana tournament, will show us whether or not we can compete with them.”

Indiana took second place in the team title chase. The Hoosiers’ leading golfer was Erika Wicoff who carded a 235 to finish sixth in the individual title chase.

“Wicoff could win the individual national championship this year,” Manning said. “But she is off to a slow start this fall.”

After finishing first as a team after the first round, Manning explained that the second round was a difficult battle for the Cyclones.

“We just battled the golf course the entire tournament, and in the second round the course won the battle,” Manning said.

In that round the Cyclones fell to third place after holding a four-stroke lead after the first round.

“The Cyclones fought hard to sustain third place in the final round,” Manning said.

Seniors Beth Bader and Holly Duncan were next in line for the Cyclones. Bader and Duncan each carded identical round stroke totals of 77-82-80 to tie for eleventh place in the individual part of the tournament. Bader and Duncan tied with fellow Big Eight golfer Lelita Moses.

Moses was medalist at the season opening tournament at the Illinois St. Redbird tournament.

Missouri finished fourth in the team title chase. The Tigers had previously won the Redbird Tournament on Sept. 9-10.

Tiger golfer Kristin Samp claimed second place in the individual aspect of the tournament. Samp shot rounds of 79-77-75 (231) — five strokes behind Luciuk.

The University of Iowa also participated in the tournament. The Hawkeyes finished a distant ninth in the team title chase. Iowa totaled 984 strokes as a team, 30 strokes behind the Cyclones.

Sophomore Fiona Watson finished fourth on the Cyclone squad by carding 252 strokes. Watson, who finished ninth last week at the Iowa Hawkeye Invitational, shot rounds of 86-81-85.

Junior Gwynn Shepherd totaled 254 strokes. Shepherd added rounds of 88-88-78.

Sophomore Sara Linneman was the final golfer for the Cyclones. Linneman had rounds of 84-90-84 to card a final total of 258 strokes.

The Cyclones will next be in action Sept. 29- Oct. 1 at the Lady Northern Intercollegiate tournament in Bloomington, Ind.

“These tournaments can go a long way to determining a postseason berth,” Manning said.