Starting the day just one shot back of the lead, the Washington women’s golf team stepped up to the first tee with a realistic shot at winning the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown.

And then the nerves kicked in.

After playing some impressive golf in tough conditions during the first two days of the tournament, the entire squad felt the pressure and nervousness as they stumbled throughout the entire final round. The UW shot a third-round 32-over 320, the second-to-worst score of the day. They finished alone in sixth place at 35-over, 21 shots behind tournament winner Arizona.

“Today was miserable,” head coach Mary Lou Mulflur said. “We just didn’t play very well.”

After battling winds of up to 40 mph and firing a combined 4-over during Tuesday’s second round, the players were simply too nervous during the final round when the tournament was on the line.

“We got off to a poor start, and it just kind of snowballed from there,” Mulflur said. “I think it was a lot of nerves, and it was obviously really disappointing.”

Junior Anya Alvarez, who shined in the first round with a 3-under 69, made only one birdie and triple-bogeyed the last hole en route to a final-round 83. After starting the day at par, senior Molly Aronsson made four double bogeys and shot an 85.

One bright spot at the tournament was junior Karinn Dickinson, who overcame a sickness to fire a 3-day total of 221. She ended tied for ninth overall and was the highest Washington finisher.

But neither senior Christina Yoon nor sophomore Sadena Parks could help the Huskies gain back some strokes. Yoon shot a final-round 80 and tied for 36th, while Parks followed her second-round 83 with a final-round 81 to finish in 82nd-place.

Overall, Mulflur still saw positives from her players’ efforts. Despite the forgettable final round, the Huskies showed that they can compete with nearly any team in the country after shooting 1-under the first day and 4-over the second day.

“It was great had it been a two-day tournament,” Mulflur said. “But I really felt like we took some good strides forward. We just have to learn how to finish and show that we do belong in that last group. We need to be comfortable and confident, and we weren’t either of those today, and that really hurt us.”

The Dawgs will return home to practice before heading out to their last tournament of the fall at the Turtle Bay Resort College Invitational in Kahuku, Hawaii next weekend.

Reach reporter Taylor Soper at sports@dailyuw.com.