You would have to go back to the 2006-2007 season to find the last time the Bradley women’s golf team placed second at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship.
That was until this week.
Finishing at 924 as a team, the Braves came just shy of taking the crown, as Murray State won the tournament with a 923 score. It was a heartbreaker for Bradley, who were in first place heading into the final round.
Even so, the Braves demolished the rest of the competition, with third place coming a full15 strokes behind them.
With 10 tournaments throughout the season, the Braves placed in the top 10 in nine of them, including top-five finishes in six. Among those, the Braves took first place at the Rio Verde Invitational and second at the A-Ga-Ming Invitational and Bradley’s Coyote Creek Classic in addition to the MVC championship.
Individually, the Braves stood out, with all five placing in the top 20 and four landing in the top 10 for the first time since 2004.
Coming in tied for third place was Alyssa Mixon, who started the tournament with a bang. After the first 18, Mixon was tied for first at 73, one above par. Unfortunately, a six-over-par in round two and seven-over-par in round three would send her back into the eventual tie for third.
Still, Mixon’s final score of 230 led her to the best placement in her career, as well as MVC All-Tournament honors.
Next up, Allison Pacocha, Jillian Cosler and Caroline McConnell were part of a four-way tie for ninth place. After rounds one and two, the Braves were only one stroke away from each other until they converged at 233 after 54 holes.
Pacocha looked to run away from her fellow teammates after putting up a 74 in round two, vaulting her from last to first among the three Braves, but Cosler and McConnell’s consistency would ultimately create the tie between them.
All three earned a spot on the MVC All-Conference team – the first time this has happened since 2018.
The last Brave to finish in the top 20 was Peyton Coburn, who tied for 17th with a 236. For the second year in a row, Coburn slotted into the top 20 at the MVC tournament after bouncing back from a rough start.
While the Braves fell just short of capturing the MVC championship, they still delivered a performance to be proud of.
