MEMPHIS, Tenn. --- Despite being tied for fifth place after the opening round of play at the 2011 Memphis Fall Invitational, the Samford University women's golf team charged back from seven strokes down to win the championship title of the 12-team, three-round competition Tuesday with a final team score of 913 (311-293-309).

"I'm extremely proud of this team," said Samford head coach Ryan Mayberry. "They did a great job of winning, but we still have some improvements that we need to make. Natalie Mitchell had a great tournament for us and we played really well in the second round. We just didn't play very well in the first or third rounds. We can still improve a lot, but I'm very proud of how we competed this week."

The Memphis Fall Invitational was hosted by the University of Memphis at the par-71, 6,150-yard Ridgeway Country Club, and included the following teams: Samford, Austin Peay, Boise State, Butler, Central Arkansas, Memphis, Montana, Rollins (Fla.), Sam Houston State, Texas A&M-CC, UAB and Xavier.

Samford finished the two-day competition tied with Memphis for first place, but was declared the winner via a scorecard playoff on holes No. 4 and 5.

The Bulldogs turned in their best round of the tournament on the second 18 holes of play as they carded a 5-over-par 293. Samford smoked the competition in the second round as the next best score was a 17-over-par 305 tallied by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Samford's plus-14 performance against Memphis in the second round of play propelled the Bulldogs to a decisive first-place advantage. On Tuesday's final round, Samford posted a 309 and was able to hold off Memphis for the championship title after the Lady Tigers carded a third-round total of 302.

Individually, the Bulldogs were paced by Natalie Mitchell who finished tied for third place in the tournament with a three-day total of 224 (78-70-76). Samford's sophomore native of Germantown, Tenn., also tallied the team's best score of the week with a second-round total of 2-under-par 70.

Junior Kayla Turner followed Mitchell with a 54-hole total of 227 and also earned a top-10 finish in the individual standings. Turner, a native of Clarksville, Tenn., carded her tournament-best score of 73 in the second round and finished in sole possession of seventh place.

Samford true freshman Emily Stallings tallied a 12th-place finish with a three-round mark of 230, while senior Sarah Butts totaled a 54-hole score 235 (77-76-82) and freshman Bailey Gray finished with a 239 (82-78-79). The Bulldogs' Anna Heim and Alex Jasper both competed as individuals and carded scores of 231 and 237, respectfully. Heim finished 15th in the tournament, while Jasper placed 29th.

The Samford University women's golf team will next be in action this weekend as the Bulldogs head to Greenville, S.C., for the 2011 Furman Invitational, which will be held Friday through Sunday at the Furman University Country Club.