CONOVER, N.C. --- Tusculum College rookie Emee Herbert and the Pioneer women's golf team each finished third at the 2012 South Atlantic Conference Championship Tuesday on the Jackson Course of the Rock Barn Golf & Spa.

Tusculum finished with a three-round score of 950, including Tuesday's final round of 311. The Pioneers finish 31 shots behind 2012 SAC Champion Newberry as the Wolves posted a tournament-record 919, including a tournament-record 301 for the final 18 holes. Newberry's 301 is three shots better than the Wolves final round 304 at the 2010 championship.

Lincoln Memorial finished runner-up with 938, followed by Tusculum, Carson-Newman (953), Wingate (981), Catawba (987), Anderson (1005), Lenoir-Rhyne (1028), Brevard (1140) and Mars Hill (1183).

Herbert's 54-hole score of 229 is a new school record, breaking the previous best posted by former Pioneer Rachel McFarland, who carded 231 when she won the 2003 SAC Championship.

Newberry's Maria Luz Besio shot a SAC Tournament record 218 to capture medalist honors in this event for a second time in her career (2010, 2012). Wingate's Lucia Areaga finished second with 228, followed by Herbert, LMU's Desta Coaker (229) and Newberry's Barbara Castro to round out the top half of the SAC All-Tournament Team.

Tusculum junior Jillian Corum garnered SAC All-Tournament honors for a second straight season, finishing tied for eighth place with 76-81-79=236. Rounding out the remainder of the SAC All-Tournament Team are: Laura Buyers (Anderson), Lisa Brandl (Newberry), Brittany McCown (LMU), Whitney Ball (LMU).

Tusculum sophomore Sara Howard finished tied for 18th place with 243, including final round 76. Senior Aly Pugh shot 82-79-85=246 to finish 21st, while senior Katie Doane posted 95-95-81=271 to place 41st. TC freshman Alec Cunningham finished 34th with 89-91-79=259 while playing as an individual competitor.

The Pioneers will now wait to see if they will earn a berth to next month's NCAA Division II Tournament. The announcement of the teams will be made on April 30.

- SAC -

South Atlantic Conference Women's Golf Championship
Team Results
Pl Team 1st 2nd 3rd TOT
1 Newberry 310 308 301 919
2 Lincoln Memorial 309 323 306 938
3 TUSCULUM 310 329 311 950
4 Carson-Newman 325 315 313 953
5 Wingate 326 325 330 981
6 Catawba 323 334 330 987
7 Anderson 331 346 328 1005
8 Lenoir-Rhyne 359 340 329 1028
9 Brevard 385 388 367 1140
10 Mars Hill 414 392 377 1183

Tusculum Individual Scores
Pl Player 1st 2nd 3rd TOT
T3 Emee Herbert 73 81 75 229
T8 Jillian Corum 76 81 79 236
T18 Sara Howard 79 88 76 243
21 Aly Pugh 82 79 85 246
T34 Alec Cunningham* 89 91 79 259
41 Katie Doane 95 95 81 271
* individual competitor