CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Lani Elston, a redshirt sophomore, eyes her tee shot yesterday morning at the third round of The Arizona Wildcat Invitational at Arizona National Golf Club.

The women's golf team concluded the Wildcat Invitational in the same fashion as a year ago - with a ninth-place finish and a lot of hanging heads.

The only difference was that the individual trophy didn't go to a Wildcat - it went to a Commodore.

Vanderbilt sophomore May Wood shot three rounds under-par as she finished at the top of the leader board, helping her team to do the same.

Arizona shot its best round of the 54-hole event yesterday, but it wasn't good enough, as the Cats continued to struggle on their home course.

"I saw some good things today," head coach Greg Allen said. "We're so close as a team. We've just got to focus on the positives and keep moving forward."

The Wildcats were again led by sophomore Erica Blasberg, who struggled through her first two rounds only to finish solidly, closing with a 2-under-par 69.

"My round was pretty good today," Blasberg said. "But I stumbled coming in."

The 2003 Freshman Player of the Year finished in a tie for fifth place and was the only Wildcat in the starting five to finish in the top 30.

Mar Garcia, who was competing as an individual, finished in 19th place. The younger sister of PGA star Sergio Garcia improved with each day, shooting rounds of 76-75-74.

Allen said he was pleased that Garcia has started playing to her potential and said this week can only help with her confidence.

"I saw some good things out of Mar, playing as an individual," Allen said. "She knows we need her in the lineup."

Even with two disappointing performances to start the spring, Allen said he knows the team is on the verge of breaking through and wants to reiterate that now is not the time to get frustrated.

"I think (the players) are putting too much pressure on themselves," Allen said. "I'd rather play poorly right now and peak at the end than peak now and play poorly at the end."

The team has almost an entire month off before it heads back to the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational, giving the Wildcats time to work on things that haven't been clicking.

"We've got some time off right now to get ready for Texas," Allen said. "We'll be playing there without Erica, so it will be a time for somebody else to step up."

"Hopefully, this is a learning experience for the team," Blasberg said.