CARLSBAD — Dianna Lee settled over a 4-foot put on the 18th green in the lengthening shadows Wednesday evening at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s North Course. Here’s what was at stake: The NCAA women’s golf team championship … for the Northwestern junior … just a few miles from where she grew up and attended high school. “Obviously, I was so nervous,” said Lee, a Westview High School alum. “I was shaking. My hands were shaking. Who wouldn’t be nervous? It’s not like I have nerves of steel or anything. “But sometimes you just have to let muscle memory do its job.” It did. She did. Lee paused momentarily as her ball disappeared into the hole, processing that it gave the girls in purple a 3-2 victory against top-ranked and defending champion Stanford. Then it hit her: She dropped her putter and charged across the green to her screaming teammates. There are upsets. There are big upsets. And then there’s what Lee and the Wildcats pulled off, taking down a team that was only the second in NCAA history to post an undefeated season in stroke play events and had four players finish in the top 10 of the individual tournament. But this is match play — five individual matches, first to three points wins — and Stanford’s record 21-shot advantage after four rounds of stroke play was wiped out for the eight-team bracket Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s become a controversial aspect of the championships since match play was added in 2015, negating historic stroke play results in the name of television drama. Wednesday’s afternoon tee times were conveniently scheduled to accommodate East Coast prime-time viewers. “It’s both things,” said Stanford coach Anne Walker, who was so gracious in defeat that she retrieved Lee’s putter from the green and put it in her golf bag while the Wildcats celebrated. “Of course, I wish it was stroke play, because we’d have many more titles. But I understand that it’s match play because we have to grow the game. “If we’re going to be in this business and we’re going to be part of golf, I think it’s important we continue to grow the game and appeal to the younger generation, to the broader generation. If that’s what this does, then I’m all for that.” If stomach-churning drama was the intent, mission accomplished. Stanford took an early 1-0 lead on veteran Megha Ganne’s dominant performance in the opening match. But Northwestern’s Lauren Nguyen quickly tied it, and Hsin Tai Lin gave the Wildcats a 2-1 margin. Moments later, Stanford’s Kelly Xu tied it after coming from a hole down with three to play. That left Lee and Spanish freshman Andrea Revuelta in the anchor match, and Lee’s 3-up lead with five holes to play suddenly dwindled to one on the 16th hole. And nearly to nothing with Revuelta standing over a short par putt to even the match. But the putt slid past the hole, and Lee hung onto her narrow lead. Both players parred 17, sending the match – and the championship – to the par-5 18th as hundreds of fans gathered on the hillside above the green. Lee’s approach shot came within inches of plunging into a diabolical, shaved collection area left of the green (and a near-impossible up and down for par). She was a left with a 22-foot birdie putt that hit the cup, popped out and settled 4 feet away. Revuelta missed her birdie attempt, and now Lee faced the knee-knocking 4-footer to tie the hole, win the match and give the Wildcats their first women’s golf title in school history. “Absolutely incredible,” Lee said. “I’m on a such a high right now, especially the championship being in my hometown. It means absolutely everything to me. It’s so incredibly special, and to get it done as someone from San Diego, it’s like no other. “You can’t even explain what it means to win a championship in your hometown. It’s like you’re the main character or something. That’s what I feel like right now.” The men take the stage now at La Costa, starting Friday with four rounds of stroke play to determine the individual medalist followed by two days of match play for the team title.