The No. 5 Washington University women’s golf team left the Katman Klassic hosted by No. 2 DePauw University with a lot to feel good about following their score of 647.

While the Bears only managed a third-place finish, they finished just one stroke out of second place and ahead of three other ranked opponents.

The Bears turned in a 323 on day one and found themselves tied for second place trailing the hosts by only nine strokes, but Sunday quickly turned into a battle for second place as DePauw posted a 298 and surged to a 34-stroke victory.

While Wash. U. held firm with a 324, for a 36-hole total of 647, No. 18 Olivet College overcame a three-stroke first-round deficit to knock the Bears into third place by just one stroke. The team did, however, hang onto leads over No. 18 Wittenberg University (325-329, 654), No. 8 Illinois Wesleyan University (323-334, 657) and No. 22 Hanover College (351-357, 708). The Bears have now beaten IWU all four times they’ve faced them this year.

Up and down the roster, the golfers took advantage of their first chance to play in good golfing conditions to post some of their best scores of the spring. The two co-medalists of last week’s Illinois College Spring Invitational, sophomore Hannah Buck (78-77, 155) and freshman Andi Hibbert (81-81, 162), led the way again this week, finishing in ties for third and tenth, respectively. Buck was the only golfer not representing DePauw to finish in the top five.

“We were consistent, Hannah and Andi especially, and that’s a really good sign for us,” head coach Sean Curtis said. “I thought that we responded well to the challenge of playing a top team, and being paired with them both days at that…and in a field with five top-25 teams.”

Freshman Marcy Koonce also tied for 10th. After a first round 84, Koonce fired a 78, a career-best mark that moved her all the way up to a tie for 10th place, where she joined Hibbert and two other competitors. Conversely, freshman Allyson Chee (80-88, 168) shot her best career score on Saturday and was tied for fifth going into the second round, but dropped down to 23rd. She missed matching her best 36-hole score of her career by just one stroke.

The weekend performance of sophomore Melanie Walsh (84-88, 172) was a comforting turnaround for her. Last year, Walsh averaged a round of 82.8 in the regular season and was vitally important to the team’s run to the NCAA Championships, and this fall she appeared poised to continue as a driving force behind the team’s success as she posted five rounds of 81 or better. However, she has been noticeably absent from the top of the leaderboards since, shooting three rounds of 90 or worse.

“I think I’ve been struggling a little bit confidence[-wise] so far with the weather and coming off the winter,” Walsh said, “but I definitely think this is a step in the right direction.”

While she still only finished tied for 32nd, she did so while recording 11 pars on Saturday and working around a quintuple-bogey at the 3rd hole on Sunday.

“I think [Melanie] is on pace to come back to form,” Curtis added. “She’s been swinging good, and she really just needs a couple of breaks to go her way. She’s been an integral part of the team since she stepped on campus and I know she’ll continue to be.”

The team closes out the regular season this weekend at the Millikin Hickory Point Open before waiting to hear if they’ve made it to their second consecutive NCAA Championship at Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., in May.