NCAA Women's Golf Championships 2016: Winner, Leaderboard Standings and More

One of the youngest players on the course stepped up in a big way for the University of Washington, as freshman Julianne Alvarez clinched the school's first-ever NCAA women's golf national championship with a par on the second extra hole to beat out Stanford senior Lauren Kim. It capped off a dramatic 3-2 win over the defending champions on Wednesday evening in Eugene, Oregon.   

The school sent out a congratulatory tweet shortly after the Huskies' win:

With five golfers aside, the finals—like the quarterfinals and semifinals—were in a match-play format. One golfer from one team was matched up against one from the other school, and a point was awarded to the player who posted the better score on each hole. 

The players who win their respective rounds earn a point for their team. The school that gets to three points first is the winner.

Here are the full results of the final round. For the full leaderboard, click here. 

Stanford		Washington
	Score
Shannon Aubert	2&1 (Aubert)	Charlotte Thomas
Casey Danielson	1 Up (Luo)	Ying Luo
Mariah Stackhouse	20 Holes (Stackhouse)	Sarah Rhee
Sierra Kersten	4&3 (Keh)	Wenyung Keh
Lauren Kim	20 Holes (Alvarez)	Julianne Alvarez

Washington's Wenyung Keh was the first to grab a point for her school after defeating Sierra Kersten 4 and 3. 

Kersten initially had a lead through the first two holes of the day, but Keh drew things even at No. 3, took the lead on No. 4 and never looked back. 

By the ninth hole, she was up by as much as five and clinched her match by the 15th. 

Stanford answered right back with Shannon Aubert's 2-and-1 victory over Charlotte Thomas. Aubert went wire-to-wire for the win, leading all 17 holes played. 

Thomas did well to stay in it, fighting back from as much as four down at No. 11, but she didn't have enough time to turn things around. 

With the remaining three matches close, Ying Luo fired Washington into the lead after a dramatic two-hole finish. With things all square after No. 16, Luo parred No. 17 to go 1 up over Casey Danielson. 

Her drive on No. 18, though, left the door wide-open for Stanford after it went in the bunker, but she managed to get out onto the fairway about 65 yards from the pin. Then came the fireworks as she saved the best shot of her college career for last, holing out to clinch a second point for the Huskies. 

Washington track couldn't believe Yuo's shot:

The Huskies had a chance to take the national championship when Alvarez, who was 1 up, had a birdie opportunity to halve the 17th hole and win the match. However, she missed, and Stanford senior Lauren Kim sank her chance to send the match to an 18th hole. 

While they clashed on No. 17, Stanford's hero from last year, Mariah Stackhouse, squandered a 3-up lead at No. 14 and allowed Sarah Rhee to battle back and square things up by the 17th. They halved the 18th hole to force an extra hole. 

Before their match could be decided, Alvarez had another opportunity to halve the 18th hole and win the title. After Kim parred, all Alvarez had to do was two-putt to win the title. But her first putt was short, and her second lipped out to square things up and force an extra hole as well. 

Stackhouse managed to pull out a win on the second extra hole to tie things up at two, which heaped all the pressure on Alvarez and Kim. 

They split the first extra hole like Stackhouse and Rhee before the 20th-hole decider. Alvarez recorded a par after her approach landed just a few feet from the pin. Kim, on the other hand, was left with a difficult par putt to extend the match one more hole. But her chance from 15 feet skidded just wide and cued Washington celebrations. 

It's the first time in school history that Washington has won a golfing title on either the men's or women's side. Head coach Mary Lou Mulflur also finally got her hands on the national championship trophy to cap off her 33rd season with the school and in the process claimed Washington's seventh-ever NCAA championship across all sports. 

Stats courtesy of NCAA.com.