VanEtten and Shepherd lead Golden Eagles in final 18

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PINEHURST, N.C. – Tennessee Tech finished strong at the 2012 Pinehurst Challenge on Tuesday, moving up two slots to secure a 15^th place finish against strong competition from throughout the Southeast.

The Golden Eagles finished the first two rounds in17th before shooting a combined 321 in Tuesday's final round to surpass both Marshall and Western Michigan.

Tech got sub-80 scores from two sources in the final round – Brandy VanEtten and Amber Shepherd.

Despite shooting a final-round 83, Katherine Bell led the Golden Eagles for the tournament behind a first-round 73 and a second-round 79. The junior from Jackson, Tenn., finished with a cumulative score of 235.

The rest of the Tech contingent consisted of VanEtten (80-80-77=237), Shepherd (82-87-79=248), Katy Beth Glover (82-85-82=249) and Amanda Randolph (94-81-84=259).

North Carolina State won the tournament, extending its Monday lead in the final round and finishing with a combined score of 865. The Wolfpack's Brittany Marchand was the individual champion, posting a final-round 68 to complement a first-round 73 and a second-round 70.

Maryland (882), Old Dominion (883), East Carolina (887), UNC Wilmington (892) and Penn State (892) rounded out the top six. The rest of the field consisted of UNC Greensboro (896), James Madison (903), Samford (904), Middle Tennessee State (905), College of Charleston (910), Richmond (914), Elon (919), Georgetown (927), Tennessee Tech (963), Marshall (967) and Western Michigan (WD).

The Golden Eagles return to action at the Low Country Intercollegiate on March 25-26 in Hilton Head, S.C. Wofford is the tournament host.