The University of Denver women’s golf team captured its first-ever Sun Belt Conference (SBC) Championship by defeating seven-time SBC Champion New Mexico State University in a thrilling sudden-death playoff.

The third time was a charm for the Pioneers after finishing second behind New Mexico State in 2002 and 2003.

The Pioneers shot first rounds of 302, 298 and 298 to tie New Mexico State at 898 and send it to a sudden-death playoff.

All four players from each team parred the first hole of the playoff, forcing the match to a second hole.

It was on the second hole of the playoff where junior Jennie Peek birdied a 30-foot putt after every one of her teammates made par, putting away the Aggies for good. On the second hole, each team had three players birdie, but the Aggies had a bogey.

Not only was the conclusion for the team title a nail biter, but the individual title also came down to a sudden-death playoff. Freshman Alyssa Otero finished the third with a 74, leaving her tied with Lehua Wise of New Mexico State at 222.

Otero ended up finishing second after bogeying the first hole of the playoff and Wise took the individual title as she parred the hole. Wise is the eighth consecutive Aggie to win an individual title and the first Aggie freshman to win since 2000.

For the Pioneers, Peek finished fifth at 224, junior Kate Waggoner ended tied for sixth at 225 and freshman Emily Hoeper took eighth at 227.

Hoeper, Otero, Waggoner and Peek were also All-Sun Belt Conference selections. Head coach Sammie Chergo was also honored as the SBC Coach of the Year for the first time.

The Pioneers will tee off again May 8 at the NCAA West Regional at Stanford Golf Course in California.