Falling short of what could have been a repeat of the 2012 NCAA Championship, the women’s golf team placed ninth in the NCAA Championship last week at the Tulsa Country Club, Oklahoma.

Although the Crimson Tide didn’t come out on top, coach Mic Potter said he was far from disappointed.

“Overall, I think the season was interesting,” Potter said. “Our positives are that we have a lot of young players who got a lot of experience which will really help us going forward. This year we said one of our real benefits was to put a lot of different lineups together and give a lot of people the chance to play. And we were able to do that.”

Alabama struggled throughout most of the Championship. Before going into the final round of the tournament, the Crimson Tide was ranked 12th. A final round rally boosted Alabama into the top 10. Alabama finished the Championship at 41-over-par 1,161.

“They know that their job is everyday to go out and play shots at the best of their ability,” Potter said. “They continued to do that.”

Senior Stephanie Meadow ended her collegiate career 1-under-par 279, breaking the school record for the lowest 72-hole score. Meadow will be going professional now that her college career has ended.

Sophomores Janie Jackson and Emma Talley shot even-par 70s on the last day. Talley, who has been to the championship twice in her collegiate career, echoed her coach’s sentiments.

“Obviously, we wanted to do a little bit better than we did, but at the same time I think it was a good learning experience for the whole team in general,” she said. “Our team has a lot to work on for next year, and we have a couple new players coming in, so I think we’re just really excited about next year.”

Of the new players coming in, No. 1 ranked Nicole Morales and No. 3 ranked Lakareber Abe will join the Crimson Tide in the fall. Morales and Abe will round out the seven-player team for the 2014-15 season.

(See also “Women’s golf team gears up for SEC Championship“)