LIVE RESULTS
 
WILMINGTON, N.C. (SMU) – SMU women's golf advanced to the Championship match after defeating North Carolina, 3-1, during Saturday's semifinal at the ACC Women's Golf Championship.

"Our team did an excellent job of getting out to the early lead and maintaining that momentum throughout the round," said fifth-year head coach Lauren Mason. "Proud of this group is an understatement! It's going to be an exciting finish with some possible inclement weather tomorrow afternoon. We've got a great opportunity to go head to head with the No. 1 team in the country and, we're looking forward to competing for a championship."
 
The Mustangs earned a bye into the semifinal by finishing in the top two of the stroke play portion of the tournament. They faced North Carolina who defeated Wake Forest earlier in the day. In the Mustangs' match play showdown versus North Carolina, the Mustangs needed to win three points of five allotted for the five individual pairings matches.
 
Starting on hole No. 10, the Mustangs got  off to a strong start leading in three pairings at the turn with one match tied and one trailing.
 
The Tar Heels did capture the first point with Mackenzie Lee falling to Reagan Southerland in a back-and-forth pairing, 2&1 (2 hole lead with 1 to play).
 
Kirra St-Laurent dominated her matchup with No. 29 ranked Megan Streicher, 5&4. She took the five stroke lead she wouldn't relinquish by winning five holes in a row from the 12^th hole to the 16^th. A par on the fifth hole secured the first point for the Mustangs.
 
Celine Chen prevailed 4&3 against Ing Iadpluem. Chen never trailed taking a 2-up lead into the turn.  She won hole No. 1 and hole No. 4 before dropping No. 5. With four to play she had a three-hole lead. Chen won No. 6 with a par to give the Mustangs a 2-1 lead.
 
Grace Jin clinched the Mustangs' victory with a 3&2 victory. Jin trailed through three holes but tied it up on No. 14. She would not drop another hole and secured the win with a split seventh hole.
 
Emily Odwin's match with Helen Yang ended unfinished, through Odwin had just take a one hole lead with four to play.
 
The Mustangs secured the needed three points to advance to the Championship match. On Sunday, SMU will be in search of its third conference title in four seasons and first since joining the ACC. 

Next up, the Mustangs face the No. 1 team in the country, Stanford. The championship match tees off at 8 a.m. CT on Sunday with a conference title on the line.
 
No. 2 SMU 3, No. 6 North Carolina 1
Reagan Southerland (UNC) def. Mackenzie Lee (SMU), 2&1
Grace Jin (SMU) def. Marie Prats-Rigual (UNC), 3&2
Celine Chen (SMU) def. Ing Iadpluem (UNC), 4&3
Kirra St. Laurent (SMU) def. Megan Streicher (UNC), 5&4
Emily Odwin (SMU) vs. Helen Yeung (UNC), Unfinished
Order of Finish: 1, 4, 3, 2