After finishing seventh at the Anteater Invitational in Dove Canyon, Calif., Tuesday, the members of the Iowa women’s golf team believed they were capable of much better performances.

The Hawkeyes recorded a team score of 929 at the 54-hole tournament. The competition was held at the par 71 Dove Canyon Country Club, and it was hosted by the University of California-Irvine.

Portland State won the tournament with a team score of 890, Nevada finished second, and UC-Irvine took third.

“Overall our team did not play as well as we should have,” sophomore Kristi Cardwell said. “We have a few weeks to get good practice in, so I hope that will help everyone refocus and play to their potential.”

Cardwell’s impressive 11th-place finish was the highlight for Iowa, but even she felt she could have improved.

“I’m not happy where I finished, because I know I should have won the tournament,” she said. “If I hadn’t gotten so mental during the second round, I would have won.”

Cardwell shot par in the first round, but recorded a score of 80 in the second. She finished the competition with a total of 224 strokes after another strong performance in round three.

“I just need to tell myself to let the bad holes go, because I know I have the talent to get shots back later on,” she said. “It’s going to take practice and a few lessons learned.”

Cardwell was five strokes behind Portland State’s Lauren Taylor — who won the competition — and just three strokes away from a second-place tie.

Junior Chelsea Harris followed Cardwell in a tie for 24th after moving up one spot from the first day. She recorded a score of 232. Just three strokes behind Harris, senior Laura Cilek ended the competition in 31st place.

Sophomore Gigi DiGrazia and senior Lauren Forbes rounded out the Hawkeyes’ scorecard at 244 and 245, respectively. Freshman Woojay Choi competed as an individual and carded a 239 to tie for 37th.

“Kristi played well,” Cilek said. “The rest of us need to step it up for the next tournament. The field is going to be tough at the next two tournaments.”

The Hawkeyes will compete at the Lady Buckeye Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, on April 16-17 and then at the Big Ten championship April 22-24 in Evanston, Ill.

For the Hawkeyes to improve their game and be successful at their next competitions, Harris said, they must “eliminate big numbers.” Players cannot not get mad at aspects of the game that are out of their control.

Hitting a solid shot that takes a bad bounce or playing with a partner with a bad attitude from another team are just two of those uncontrollable aspects of the game that can add strokes to one’s score, Harris said.

Cilek said she is confident the team will do well if the Hawkeyes can believe in themselves and trust their training.

“We have all the skills in the world,” she said. “We just need to put it all together.”