Women’s golf ends fall with 12th-place finish

The SIUC women’s golf team ended its fall schedule with a 12th-place finish out of 18 teams at the Lady Kat Invitational in Lexington, Ky., Sunday.

The Salukis fired rounds of 316, 320 and 322 for a total of 958. The University of Kentucky captured its own tournament title with a three-round score of 912. Other Missouri Valley Conference team scores included Illinois State University in 11th at 957.

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Stacy Skillman shot rounds of 76, 77 and 76 to lead the Salukis with a 229. Liz Uthoff shot a 240, Jami Zimmerman ended with a 244, Jamie Smith fired a 245, and Jamie Schmidt added a 249 to round out the Salukis’ effort.

Youngstown State holds on to No. 1 spot

The Youngstown State University Penguins, who moved into the No. 1 spot last week, remained atop the Sports Network Division I-AA poll after a 52-17 thrashing of the University of Buffalo Saturday. The Penguins garnered 65 of a possible 95 first-place votes for 2,328 points.

Youngstown State grabbed nine more first-place votes this week and lead the second-ranked Montana Grizzlies by 55 points.

Youngstown State, winners of the national title in 1991, 1993 and 1994, was awarded the top spot for the second-straight week by the pollsters, made up of the TSN selection panel and Division I-AA sports information directors. The 6-0 Penguins face a tough test this week, as they travel to the University of Northern Iowa to take on the 24th-ranked Panthers.

The top seven teams held on to their slots this week. The 4-1 Grizzlies blanked Idaho State 48-0 Saturday. The University of Villanova Wildcats, McNeese State University Cowboys and Western Illinois University Leathernecks complete the top five.

Rounding out the top 10 are the University of Delaware, Western Kentucky University, Southern University, Georgia Southern University and Eastern Illinois University.

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The second 10 includes Northern Arizona University, Stephen F. Austin University, Jackson State University, East Tennessee State University, Nicholls State University, Troy State University, Murray State University, William & Mary College, Hampton University and Eastern Washington University.

Florida A & M University, Furman University, South Carolina State University, the University of Northern Iowa and Southwest Texas State University captured the final five slots.

Rams’ Bruce returns to lineup

St. Louis Rams wide receiver Isaac Bruce returned from a two-game absence because of a hamstring injury and caught two passes in a 30-10 loss to San Francisco Sunday. However, the Rams were without running back Lawrence Phillips, who is suffering from turf toe. Phillips has 383 yards on 101 carries this season.

Bruce has been bothered by a nagging hamstring injury all season. He missed the first two games of the season, then aggravated the problem in a Sept. 14 game against Denver and had not played since.

Bruce totaled 14 yards on his two catches in Sunday’s loss, during which the Rams mustered 113 yards.

Bruce had 224 receptions in his first three seasons, more than any receiver in NFL history. He accounted for 31 percent of St. Louis’ offense last year with 84 receptions for 1,338 yards and seven touchdowns and was named to his first Pro Bowl.