ANGOLA, IN – Defending champion Methodist University fired its second straight round of 310 to reclaim the lead at the NCAA Division III Women's Golf Tournament being played at The Zollner Golf Course.
First day leader Williams had a difficult second day, especially on the back nine and slipped to fourth place. With a two-day total of 630 the Ephs find themselves 10 shots back of first place Methodist University.
Williams, which was 13 over as a team on the front nine today finished the back nine 22 shots over par and shot a team total of 323 for the day.
Methodist's two-day total of 620 is one shot better than DePauw University and two shots ahead of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Yesterday when the Ephs led at the end of day one it was the first time since 2009 that Methodist did not possess the lead after the first day of the NCAA Tournament. In 2009 the Monarchs of Methodist rebounded to win the event by 25 shots.
Sophomore Georgi Salant who opened the tourney with an even par round of 72 to lead the field today was one over on the front nine this afternoon. Salant bogeyed the first hole and then pared the next eight holes to card a 37.
On the back nine Salant posted four pars to go with four bogeys and a double bogey leaving her with a round of 79 and at seven over par.
Salant's two-day total of 151 places her in a tie for second place with Taylor Beaty (DePauw) in the 101-player field, two shots behind Catherine Wagner of Wisconsin-Eau Claire who fired a one under 71 today.
For the second day in a row junior Victoria Student posted the second best score on the Eph squad. Student opened her second round with a double bogey on the first hole, but balanced two bogeys with birdies on two and five to make the turn at 38 and two over par.
On the back nine Student also had difficulty mustering up pars and the four she recorded were offset by four bogeys and a double bogey leaving her six over on the back and 8 over for the day with an 80.
Sophomore Emily Wickstrom who fired an 86 on day one equaled Salant's one over on the front nine. Wickstrom recorded eight pars as well on the front to go with a bogey 5 on the par 4 4th hole.
On the back nine Wickstrom started off by bogeying the first three holes and then had two double bogeys before recording three pars and a bogey to finish the back side eight over and with a round of 81, which left her nine over for the day. She had a five-shot improvement from her opening round.
Junior Becky Miller had a tough first nine as well today as she came into the turn 10 over on the first nine with a 46. Miller was only able to manage three pars on the front.
However, Miller, turned out to be the one Eph who played the back nine the best as she rebounded from her first nine with a 1-over 37. All the more impressive was how Miller shook off five straight holes closing out the front nine where she did not record a par and then opened the back nine with three straight pars.
She bogeyed both 13 and 14, but got one of the shots back when she finished the round by recording a birdie on 18. Miller's strong showing on the back nine left her at 11 over and with a round of 83.
"Becky Miller was fantastic on the back nine," said Eph head coach Erika DeSanty. "Becky plays better when she is fighting. The more pressure there is on her the better she plays. She kept her head and was focused."
Freshman Shelby Shote who notched a 77 on day one had a different experience on day two. On her front nine today Shote was nine over par, logging four pars. The back nine found Shote paring two holes and she closed the day at 88.
"I think we played solidly today and we're still in the position we want to be in playing in the afternoon groups on the third round," said DeSanty.
"Collectively we played some great holes today, unfortunately we carried over our mistakes more than we did yesterday," noted DeSanty. "Tomorrow we're going to focus on leaving our mistakes behind us and carrying ourselves with confidence for the entire round."
Thursday the Ephs will be paired with fifth place Mary Hardin-Baylor (632) and sixth place Centre College (636) and they will begin their third round from the first tee beginning at 12:30 PM.
