Southern Miss women’s golf secured the program’s first individual and team title on Thursday, while Ole Miss also had their first individual golfer hoist a league championship trophy.
Golden Eagle senior Momoka Ando finished individual play of the 2025 Sun Belt women’s golf championship with a 54-hole score of 3-under (69) – tying a career low. It gave the veteran the school’s first individual women’s golf conference championship in dominant fashion, beating the runner-up by six strokes at day’s end. Ando also became the first individual Golden Eagle to qualify for an NCAA Regional.
But Ando’s crown was just the first half of what would become the most illustrious two-day stretch in program history.
Four other Southern Miss golfers – Taylor Trible, Elena Melic, Louise Cuyvers, and Alma Betoret – shot their best round of the tournament Wednesday to qualify the team for match play at Lakewood Club in Mobile, Ala.
First year head Colton Cowan’s team edged Coastal Carolina 3-2 in the morning match play round, advancing the Golden Eagles to square off with top seed and nationally ranked Georgia Southern.
Trible and Cuyvers would each get a head-to-head win over their Georgia Southern opponents, but a win for the opponent in the third match set up an intense final stretch between Ando and Drive Tunwannarux. Ando played hero again, clinching the historic team title with a long putt on hole 17.
𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗨𝗦 👑
The Golden Eagles are the Sun Belt Tournament 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 and are NCAA Tournament bound for the first time in school history 🏆@SunBelt | #SMTTT pic.twitter.com/etZhZtHKYW
— Southern Miss W Golf (@SouthernMissWG) April 17, 2025
No. 18 Ole Miss also got their first individual women’s golf conference champion Wednesday as senior Caitlyn Macnab stood atop the SEC championship leaderboard. Macnab shot a third-round 65 (5-under) to pace the Rebels.
The South African also tied a program record with four individual medalist finishes in just two years at Ole Miss.
Your 2025 SEC Women’s Golf Individual Champion…
🏆 𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐲𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐧𝐚𝐛 pic.twitter.com/T5iFJhHUYb
— Ole Miss Women’s Golf (@OleMissWGolf) April 16, 2025
The red and blue knocked off rival Mississippi State to begin match play on the tournament’s final day at The Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla., though they fell short in the semifinals against South Carolina.
Both Southern Miss and Ole Miss will find out their NCAA Tournament destinations with the NCAA Selection Show on April 23, aired on the Golf Channel at noon CT. The women’s golf NCAA Tournament will take place on May 5-7.
