PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Women's Golf will head to the Blue Grass State for its final tournament before the Missouri Valley Conference Championship later this month, with the Braves playing in Murray State's Jan Weaver Invitational Friday and Saturday in Murray, Ky.
 
After having last week's Bradley Spring Invitational cancelled because of weather, Bradley returns to competition for the first time since placing second of 12 teams at the Babs Steffens Collegiate in Daytona Beach., Fla., back on March 24 & 25 to wrap up the team's spring break trip to Florida.
 
Play at the par-72 Miller Memorial Golf Course gets underway Friday with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start for the opening two rounds.  Saturday's final round will also feature an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start.
 
Missouri Valley Conference rival Southern Illinois joins Bradley in the 14-team field.  Tournament-host Murray State is one of six Ohio Valley Conference squads competing along with Austin Peay, Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech.  Big Ten Conference member Rutgers, which was ranked #80 in the latest Golfweek.com ratings, helps highlight a field which also features Alabama State, Lipscomb, Louisiana-Monroe, Northern Kentucky and Samford. 
 
Junior Taylor Ledwein, who was named MVC Golfer of the Week after winning medalist honors at the Babs Steffens Collegiate, owns the third lowest stroke average in the MVC at 75.80 per round.  Ledwein has finished in the top 10 in three of the last four tournaments.  Last year she tied for fifth at the Jan Weaver Invitational at four-over 148, while helping Bradley to a sixth-place team finish.  
 
Senior Frankie Saban has also finished in the top 10 in three of the last four tournaments and tied for 13th at the 2018 Jan Weaver Invitational, one shot back of Ledwein at five-over 149.  Saban has played in 99 career rounds as a Brave and is looking to becoming the 13th player in program history with 100 career rounds played.  She is currently fifth in the MVC in stroke average at 76.45 per round and owns a 75.63 stroke average this spring. 
 
Fellow senior Brooke Thompson is coming off her first top-20 finish of 2018-19, after she tied for 14th at the Babs Steffens Collegiate.  Thompson fired a career-best one-under 71 in the final round of the Babs Steffens Collegiate.
 
Sophomore Maddie Hawkins tied for 10th at the Babs Steffens Collegiate as an individual for the first top-10 finish of her career.  Hawkins earned her first career top-20 finish at last year's Jan Weaver Invitational, where she tied for 16th as an individual. 
 
One of three players on the roster to play in all 20 rounds this season, junior Megan Medinger has three top-20 finishes this year after she took 17th at the Babs Steffens Collegiate.  Medinger is third on the team and 16th in the MVC with a 78.30 season stroke average. 
 
Bradley will have eight players in the field at the Jan Weaver Invitational with the freshmen trio Elyse Emerzian, Sarah Nacos and Megan Welch all playing as individuals. 
 
The Braves follow up the Jan Weaver Invitational with the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Championship, which will be held April 14-16 at Sand Creek Country Club in Valparaiso, Ind.