STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Junior
Leigha Devine produced an one-under-par 71 in the second round to move into the top 10 after day one of the Nittany Lion Invitational on Saturday in State College, Pennsylvania. With one round to play, Devine is tied for seventh with a one-under-par 143 (72-71).
After an impressive first round that saw it fourth amongst the 14-team field at the end of the morning session, Rutgers women's golf sits in 10th after two rounds with its 16-over-par 592 (290-302). Host Penn State is first with a nine-under-par 567 (286-281), followed by Delaware (576: 282-294), James Madison (580: 295-285) and Seton Hall (580: 296-284). Penn State's Mathilde Delavallade is atop the leaderboard at seven under.
"We put together a nice round to start the day," said head coach
Kari Williams. "Everyone battled hard to finish off their rounds and put us in a great position heading into the second round. We had several mistakes in the afternoon, although I did see some great golf shots out there from everyone. Our team has great potential as they demonstrated in stretches today and we need to come out tomorrow with that confidence."
After she carded an even 72 in the opening round, Devine rolled in four birdies and 12 pars to finish round two with a one-under-par 71. Her under-par performance moved her four spots up the leaderboard to seventh, as she finished with seven birdies on Saturday. She is six strokes off the lead heading into Sunday's final round.
"It was really exciting to play a course with so many birdie opportunities right in front of you," Devine said. "I felt like I did a good job today staying focused on the shot in front of me and kept the entire day in perspective. We're all hungry to come out tomorrow and finish the tournament off on a high note."
Sophomore
Rikke Nordvik opened play strong with her two-under-par 70 – the lowest 18-hole score for the Scarlet Knights on Saturday – in the first round, highlighted by birdies on holes 10, 11 and seventeen. Nordvik is tied for 23rd with a five-over-par 147 (70-77).
Senior
Maeve Rossi (151:74-77), rookie
Lucrezia Rossettin (153: 76-77) and junior
Sun Hwang (153: 74-79) are tied for 48th and 59th, respectively. Competing as an individual, junior
Nicole Ewing is tied for 61st (154: 81-73).
Rutgers finishes play Sunday morning with am 8:30 a.m. shotgun start.
Day One Results
