PALO ALTO, Calif. – The University of Idaho women's golf team tees off Thursday in the NCAA Regional Tournament at Stanford University with back-to-back tournament victories and the attitude of an underdog.

“Everyone knows,” coach Lisa Johnson said, “if we can all get it going, we can do something special.”

Johnson's team consists of two seniors – Kristin Strankman and Cassie McKinley; sophomore Kendall Gray, and freshmen Michelle Kim and Sophie Hausmann. Hausmann was the medalist at the Big Sky Tournament and Kim was the league's Freshman of the Year. The others all earned all-conference recognition.

The challenges at Stanford, Johnson says, will be for the Vandals to be accurate into the large greens and avoid straying from the fairways where troublesome rough awaits on the par-71, 6,200-yard course. It's a layout that is vastly different from the desert-style course where the Vandals won the conference title.

“This is, by far, the longest course we'll play this year,” she said.

While her players understand they are the underdog team, she said they possess a determination and poise that can go along way as they head into championship play.

“They really showed we can perform well under pressure,” she said. “Everyone stays positive and optimistic. Their emotional and mental games are much improved.”