Francesca Fiorellini Goes 2-Under In Second Round Of SEC Golf

BELLEAIR, Florida – LSU sophomore Francesca Fiorellini birdied five-of-her-last-nine holes to finish with a 2-under par round of 68 to lead the Tigers Saturday in the second round of the SEC Women’s Golf Championship Saturday at Pelican Golf Club.

The transfer native from Rome, Italy, birdied the par 4 first and fourth holes (her 10th and 13th of the road, and after a bogey on the fifth, was able to birdie the par 4 sixth and for the second straight day the longest hole on the course, the par 5 seventh.

While she didn’t par the eighth hole, her play was almost as good. After hitting her second shot over the green and onto the top of the ninth tee box, she putted down the hill to about 25 feet and then drained the putt to save par.

On her 18th hole of the day, the par 3 ninth on the course, she cozied a tee shot to a tucked pin and rolled in about a 15-foot putt for her final birdie of the round.

For the two days, Fiorellini is now at 1-over par 141 (73-68). She moved up 17 spots in the tournament standings to a tie for 29th place.

As a team, LSU played much better, improving their score by some 14 shots with a 2-over par 282. The Tigers moved up one spot to 14th place going into the final round.

LSU is at 18-over par 578 (296-282).

Freshman Ryleigh Knaub had three birdies in an even par round of 70 to remain at 5-over for the competition. LSU also counted 2-over 72s from Taylor Riley and Rocio Tejedo.

“Francesca really brought that round home on the front nine with those five birdies,” said LSU Coach Garrett Runion. “Also, an even par round for Ryleigh was very good. We had a much better go of it today. The ladies could have given up after our Friday round, but they came out today and really fought to post a much better number.”

The competition for the eight spots to go to match play on Monday is tight with nine teams under par entering the final stroke play round on Sunday.

No. 5 Texas is first at 10-under 550 (277-273), two shots better than No. 27 Oklahoma at 8-under 552. No. 14 Vanderbilt is third at 554, one shot better than No. 3 Florida at 555. Ole Miss and Arkansas are tied for fifth at 556 with first-round co-leader Texas A&M in the seventh spot at 3-under 557. Tennessee, Mississippi State and Auburn are all tied for the eighth and final qualifying position at 1-under 559. With South Carolina in 11th place 564.

Individually, 22 players are under par through 36 holes, led by Mary Miller of Ole Miss. She retained the tournament lead with a second straight round of 66 to stand at 8-under par 132 through two days.

First-round co-leaders Avery Weed of Mississippi State and Vanessa Borovilos of Texas A&M are two-off the lead at 6-under 134 after rounds of 66-68.

Three other players are tied for fifth three shots back at 5-under 135.

The Tigers will go off the 10th tee in the final round on Sunday at 8:10 a.m. CT. Live scoring for the final round will be available at Scoreboard.clippd.com.

SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
AT BELLEAIR, FLORIDA – PELICAN GOLF CLUB
Second round team results (Par 280-560)
1 No. 5 Texas – 277-273 – 550 -10
2 No. 27 Oklahoma – 280-272 – 552 -8
3 No. 14 Vanderbilt – 276-278 – 554 -6
4 No. 3 Florida – 277-278 – 555 -5
T5 No. 21 Ole Miss – 277-279 – 556 -4
T5 No. 6 Arkansas – 278-278 – 556 -4
7 No. 4 Texas A&M – 276-281 – 557 -3
T8 No. 18 Tennessee – 284-275 – 559 -1
T8 No. 8 Auburn – 283-276 – 559 -1
T8 No. 16 Mississippi State – 280-279 – 559 -1
11 No. 23 South Carolina – 284-280 – 564 +4
12 No. 35 Missouri – 288-279 – 567 +7
13 No. 31 Kentucky – 289-288 – 577 +17
14 No. 32 LSU – 296-282 – 578 +18
15 Georgia – 295-291 – 586 +26
16 Alabama – 296-295 – 591 +31

Individual Top 5 (Par 70-140)
1 Mary Miller, Ole Miss – 66-66 –132 -8
T2 Avery Weed, Mississippi State – 66-68 – 134 -6
T2 Vanessa Borovilos, Texas A&M – 66-68 – 134 -6
T4 Paula Francisco, Florida – 67-68 – 135 -5
T4 Savannah Barber, Oklahoma – 68-67 – 135 -5
T4 Farah O’Keefe, Texas – 68-67 – 135 -5

LSU Scores
T29 Francesca Fiorellini – 73-68 – 141 +1
T54 Ryleigh Knaub – 75-70 – 145 +5
T58 Taylor Riley – 74-72 – 146 +6
T58 Rocio Tejedo – 74-72 – 146 +6
T74 Elsa Svensson – 77-75 – 152 +12