POINT CLEAR — With a 4-1-0 win over No. 2 Georgia Southern in Thursday’s match play at Lakewood Golf Club at The Grand, No. 1 Texas State hoisted its second Sun Belt Conference Women’s Golf Championship trophy and first since 2016.

Baldwin County was hosting the Sun Belt Women’s Golf Championship for the fifth time and the Bobcats became the fourth champion to take home the crown after the tournament was previously held in Gulf Shores, Foley and Loxley twice. Texas State joined South Florida (1992), Lamar (1995) and Troy (2014 and 2015) in hoisting the hardware in lower Alabama.

The Bobcats’ Championship Thursday started with a 3-1-1 win over No. 4 Old Dominion in the semifinals to secure their spot in the finals. Texas State had recorded runner-up finishes in three of the last four championship tournaments.

“I’m super proud of the team. They played so well,” said Bobcat head coach Par Nilsson. “We’ve been practicing match play all year, so were really, really ready.”

In the match play final, Texas State graduate student and 2024 Sun Belt Conference individual champion Hailey Jones put the Bobcats on the scoreboard early with a dominant 6&5 victory over Georgia Southern senior Abbey Newton.

Hole No. 16 became center stage for the final moments of the tournament when Texas State junior Matilda Svahn closed out a 4&2 victory against Eagle fifth-year Alex Stevenson. Bobcat junior Junia Gabasa was next up on the same hole where she finished off a 3&2 win against Georgia Southern fifth-year Haley Yerxa to secure her team’s decisive third point.

“After finishing runner-up last year, we all grinded out trying to back into position this year knowing we have nothing to lose,” Gabasa said.

In the other morning semifinal, the Eagles cruised to a 4-0-1 victory over third-seeded Louisiana-Monroe behind victories by Stevenson (2&1), Yerxa (2&1) and freshman Louise Reau (4&3).

The Sun Belt Conference also crowned champions in Foley during the fall sports season with cross country at the Graham Creek Nature Preserve and both women’s soccer and volleyball at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex. Appalachian State (men’s cross country), Arkansas State (women’s cross country), Old Dominion (women’s soccer) and Coastal Carolina (volleyball) were the other schools to take home hardware from Baldwin County this school year.