The first tournament of the spring season for the ASU women’s golf team made one thing clear: Defending a national championship won’t be a walk in the park.

ASU wrapped up play in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, Calif., on Wednesday, a tournament the Sun Devils won last season, in a tie for fourth place.

At 46-over par, ASU finished 22 shots behind first-place finisher and Pac-10 foe USC.

Just as it did last season, the tournament featured rainy and cold conditions as the players tried to navigate the challenging Palos Verdes Golf Club.

Last year’s tournament medalist, senior Juliana Murcia, led ASU with an 8-over 221 for the tournament, which was good enough for an eighth-place tie.

After shooting a 5-over 76 in the first round, Murcia battled on back on the day to score an even-par 71 and put herself back in contention.

Also performing well for ASU was sophomore Giulia Molinaro, who was the Sun Devils’ leader through the first two rounds and finished with an 11-over 224 to tie for 17th.

ASU coach Melissa Luellen made note last week of strong improvement by Molinaro, who was in the No. 6 position for the team for much of last season.

“Giulia and [Murcia] both played very well today,” Luellen told ASU media relations following the second round on Tuesday. “They both kept fighting and were just good examples of toughness on the course today. Giulia is gaining more and more confidence and is taking it one shot at a time.”

Rounding out the scoring for ASU was sophomore Carlota Ciganda (15-over 228), freshman Jennifer Johnson (16-over 229) and junior Jaclyn Sweeney (20-over 233).

ASU carded a 16-over in the first round to finish in a tie for seventh place after one day of action.

“Everyone has their bad days, and unfortunately most of the team had their bad day on the same day,” Luellen said on Monday.

Pepperdine’s Lisa McCloskey was the tournament’s medalist with a 2-under 211.

The Sun Devils will next be in action on Monday at the Duel in the Desert event in Marana.

Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu