Haley Moore beat Lakareber Abe with a birdie on the first extra hole Wednesday to give Arizona a 3-2 victory over Alabama in the NCAA women's golf championship.
Three days after the Wildcats were one putt away from being eliminated, Moore made a 4-foot putt on the par-5 18th to finally finish off Abe in the last match at Karsten Creek. Abe putted first and missed from about the same distance, with her ball going by on the left.
Abe birdied the 18th in regulation to force overtime.
Sandra Nordaas beat Angelica Moresco 1 up in the fourth match to tie it at 2 after Cheyenne Knight gave Alabama the lead with a 4-and-2 victory over Bianca Pagdanganan in the third. Yu-Sang Hou won the opening match for Arizona, beating Lauren Stephenson 4 and 3. Kristen Gillman tied it in the second with a 4-and-3 victory over Gigi Stoll.
Arizona, also the 1996 and 2000 winner, became the first No. 8 seed to get past the quarterfinals. The Wildcats are the fourth straight Pac-10 winner, following Stanford, Washington and Arizona State last year.
Arizona appeared to have blown its chances in the final round of stroke play Monday, going from third to outside the top eight until Pagdanganan eagled the final hole to send the Wildcats into a playoff against Baylor for the eighth and final spot in match play. Arizona won on the second extra hole, and went on to beat UCLA in the quarterfinals and Stanford in the semifinals.
