The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks' NCAA postseason run came to an abrupt and heartbreaking end on Tuesday—cut short by a full 18 holes before the final round could even begin.

Competing in an NCAA regional for the first time in four years, the Lumberjacks entered the Waco Regional as the Big Sky Conference's automatic qualifier. But during the second round at Ridgewood Country Club, senior Lizzie Neale withdrew from the competition, leaving the squad with just three active players. Under NCAA rules, a team must field at least four competitors to remain eligible for the team standings. With Neale's exit, Northern Arizona was disqualified from the team competition entirely.

It was a tough blow for a program that had fought hard to return to the postseason. The Lumberjacks roster lists eight players, but only four made the trip to Texas: Neale (ranked No. 170 nationally), junior Amy Hodgkins (No. 311), junior Frankie Dezis (No. 394), and freshman Lydia Lin (No. 627). Several other players—including senior Nina Lukyanenko, who finished T-10 at the Big Sky Championship—did not travel for a variety of reasons.

According to Golfweek, the departures stemmed from "different reasons, including one of them getting married." In fact, one player reportedly "had to be convinced to come back" just so Northern Arizona wouldn't have to forfeit its regional bid entirely. Had the Lumberjacks not been able to field a team, the Big Sky's automatic qualifying spot would have gone to runner-up Northern Colorado.

Neale opened the tournament with a 77 in the first round and had already posted scores for the second round before her round was removed from the live-scoring website. The NCAA confirmed to Golf Channel that the removal was due to a withdrawal, and officials were still working to determine the reason behind it.

For the three remaining Lumberjacks—Hodgkins, Lin, and Dezis—the news wasn't all bad. They will be allowed to continue competing as individuals on Wednesday, with Hodgkins sitting at T-15, Lin at T-39, and Dezis in 50th place.

This marks just the second time in NCAA women's regional history that a team has been disqualified for failing to field four players. The last instance came in 2018, when East Carolina was forced out of the Austin Regional after a virus swept through the team, leaving only two healthy players for the second round. That outbreak was believed to have originated from contaminated water coolers on the course.

For Northern Arizona, it's a disappointing end to a season full of promise—but the individual performances from the three remaining players offer a small silver lining as they look to close out the year on a high note.