FLOSSMOOR, Ill. – Sparked by a final-round 78, Madison Banas led Fairfield University Women's Golf after 54 holes at the Loyola Fall Invitational. The Stags finished eighth in their opening tournament of the fall at Flossmoor Country Club in Flossmoor, Ill.
 
Playing on a course 50 miles from her high school (Loyola Academy), Banas carded two rounds in the 70s en route to finishing 22nd in a field of 53 golfers. Alexa Brown was the second Stag on the leaderboard in 28th place followed by Annika Johnson, Taylor Rogers, Riley Sullivan and Arianna Palmeri.
 
The Stags' eighth-place finish slotted them ahead of Chicago State and 13 strokes behind seventh-place Omaha. Drake won the team title by six strokes over South Dakota. Katie Allen of Creighton was the tournament's individual medalist with a 224 (+5) to beat the field by three strokes.
 
Fairfield returns to the Northeast to continue its fall slate on Sept. 28-29 at the Hartford Women's Invitational at Wintonbury Hills Golf Course in Bloomfield, Conn.