NINETY SIX, S.C. – Gardner-Webb women's golf finished second at the 2019 Blue Hose Match Play, falling to Samford in the championship match 4-1 Tuesday afternoon.

The event was held at the 6,175-yard (Par 72) Patriot course, the same course used for the annual Big South Conference Championship. The women's title will be decided by match play for the first time in 2020, following a successful debut of the format by the conference last spring on the men's side.

The Runnin' Bulldogs took its second round match to advance, winning 3.5-1.5 over USC Upstate.

Allison Chandler (2UP), Linnea Hofgren (3&2) and Gillian O'Brien (1UP) each captured victories and Lindsay Koppel took a half for the final margin.

That set up a title bout with Southern Conference member Samford. The Runnin' Bulldogs dropped a 4-1 decision, with Hofgren and Suthasinee Sridet each post halves in their matches at No. 2 and No. 3 to provide Gardner-Webb's scoring.

Gardner-Webb rolled past Winthrop on Monday for a first round victory, beating the Eagles 4-1. The Runnin' Bulldogs picked up wins from Chandler (6&5), Hofgren (6&5) and Sridet (6&5) to seize momentum and saw O'Brien and Koppel each post halves for the final margin.

Hofgren (2-0-1) was undefeated for the tournament, with Chandler (2-1-0) also strong in the second-place team effort.

Up next is another short trip, as Gardner-Webb wraps up the fall season with the 2019 Terrier Intercollegiate at Spartanburg Country Club in Spartanburg, S.C., on October 28-29.