SUNRIVER, Ore. The LSU women’s golf team answered the bell for the second round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships here Thursday with the round Coach Karen Bahnsen has come to expect from her team in the second round of a tournament.
Following a 25-over round of 313 in the opening round, the slow-starting Tigers had shown all year and most recently in the post-season, that they could rebound in subsequent rounds. Thursday, playing in the morning wave, under cool, cloudy conditions, the advantage was theirs to grab.
Grab they did with a 10-over par 298, LSU’s third-best round ever in the Division I championships allowing them to keep pace with the rest of the morning wave and giving them the hope that they could move up when the afternoon 12 teams faced the same windy conditions LSU played in late Wednesday.
When the scores were totaled late Thursday, the Tigers, ranked sixth in the country in both major polls had moved to 15th place in the standings, up from the tie for 22nd after the first round. After 36 holes, LSU score stood at 35-over par, 611. The Tigers are seven strokes out of a third consecutive top 10 finish with 36 holes to play.
The biggest move from that morning wave came from Arizona, which posted an outstanding three-under par round of 285 and its 36-hole score of 584 (eight-over) leads Southern California by 12 shots. Arizona entered the second round in sixth place. First round leader Oregon (598) is third and Tennessee, Georgia and Stanford are tied for fourth at 599.
LSU had no round worse than a 79 on Thursday, counting a four-over 76 as its worst score for the team. No improvement was more welcome than from Shreveport sophomore Meredith Duncan, the team’s stroke average leader entering the event. Duncan, who struggled home to an 82 on Wednesday, birdied her two final holes of the day, the eighth and ninth at the Crosswater Country Club, to finish with an even par 72. That moved her up 56 places in the standings from 116th to 60.
LSU’s senior Lisette Lee of Kenner, followed her 77 with a 75, the same score posted by Gretna sophomore Lindy Hitdlebaugh. New Zealand sophomore Tina Howard rounded out the counting scores with a 76. Lee’s two-day total of eight-over 152 is the best individually in 47th place. Julie Kraschinski of Arizona is the individual leader at four-under 140 (73-67).
“This team continues to do what it has to do when it gets in a jam like the first day,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “We had to have this round to stay in the game. There are still 36 holes to play and as the standings show, there are a lot of spots that can be made up with just a few strokes. We will have to play in the afternoon on Friday, but we need to just work a little harder to get through the round and make sure it’s another good one. We’ve done it before and we can continue to improve our position as long as we’re still playing.”
The 72-hole tournament continues through Saturday. Portions of today’s third round will be televised by ESPN2, from 2-4 p.m. CDT.
NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
AT SUNRIVER, ORE.
Team Results (Par 288-576)
1. Arizona 299-285 574 +8; 2. Southern California 305-291 596 +20; 3. Oregon 295-303 598 +22; 4. Tennessee 301-298 599 +23; 4. Georgia 296-303 599 +23; 4. Stanford 301-298 599 +23; 7. Purdue 298-303 601 +25; 8. Duke 303-299 602 +26; 8. Texas 296-308 604 +28; 10. Auburn 302-302 604 +28; 11. TCU 311-296 607 +31; 12. Tulsa 307-301 — 608 +32; 12. Ohio State 298-310 — 608 +32; 14. San Jose State 308-302 610 +34; 15. LSU 313-298 611 +35; 16. Pepperdine 302-310 612 +36; 17. Michigan State 303-310 613 +37; 17. Wake Forest 308-305 613 +37; 19. New Mexico State 304-312 616 +40; 20. Arizona State 315-305 620 +44; 21. Florida 306-315 621 +45; 21. Nebraska 310-311 — 621 +45; 23. Oklahoma 308-314 622 +46; 24. Northwestern 313-317 330 +54.
Individual Top 5 (Par 72-144)
1. Julia Kraschinski, Arizona, 73-67 140 -4; 2. Jenna Daniels, Arizona, 73-69 142 -2; 3. Beth Bauer, Duke, 72-71 143 -1; 4. Leila Chartrand, USC, 75-70 145 +1; 4. Laura Henderson, Georgia, 74-71 145 +1; 4. Danielle Downey, Auburn, 71-74 145 +1; 4. Stacy Prammanasudh, Tulsa, 69-76 145 +1.
LSU Scores
t47. Lisette Lee 77-75 152
t60. Tina Howard 78-76 154
t60. Meredith Duncan 82-72 154
t68. Lindy Hitdlebaugh 80-75 155
t87 Katy Wilkinson 78-79 157