Huskers Move to 10th at UNLV

Las Vegas - The Nebraska women's golf team climbed one spot in the team standings into 10th place after firing a 309 in the second round at the 18-team UNLV Spring Invitational at the Black Mountain Golf & Country Club on Tuesday afternoon. 

The Huskers, who opened the tournament with a 329 on Monday, trail first place USC by 33 strokes, but are just nine strokes behind seventh-place Purdue heading into the final day of competition on Wednesday.

Nebraska's two-round total of 638 trails ninth-place BYU by just three strokes, while trailing Nevada's 631 by seven strokes.  Purdue sits in seventh place with a 629.  USC followed its opening-round 306 with an impressive 299 on Tuesday to produce a team-leading 605 through two rounds. Second-place Arizona gained one shot on the leaders from USC by shooting a tournament-low 298 on Tuesday.  The Wildcats are five shots behind the Women of Troy at 610.

Arizona's Cassandra Kirkland took over the individual lead in the field by firing a tournament-low three-under-par 69 in the second round to improve to an even par 144 through two rounds. Opening-round leader Catalina Marin from USC sits two shots back in second place at 146.

Husker sophomore Chrissie McArdle produced another strong round on Tuesday by shooting a four-over-par 76.  McArdle's second-round total followed an opening-round 78 to place her in a tie for 12th place at 154.

Chelsea Gehring and Allison Stewart head into Wednesday's final round in a tie for 35th.  Gehring managed an 80 for the second straight day, while Stewart settled for an 84 on Tuesday after producing an opening-round 76 on Monday.

Freshman Elli Brown rebounded from an opening-round 86 to fire Nebraska's best round on Tuesday with a three-over-par 75 to climb into a tie for 39th at 161. Senior Merynn Ito also bounced back from a disappointing 86 on Monday to shoot 76 in the second round to sit in a tie for 44th place at 162.

The tournament's final 18 holes are scheduled to be played Wednesday on the par-72, 6,009-yard layout at the Black Mountain Golf & Country Club.

UNLV Spring Invitational
Black Mountain Golf & Country Club
6,009 Yards, Par 72

Team Standings (Through One Round)
1. USC - 306-299-605
2. Arizona - 312-298-610
3. Pepperdine - 317-302-619
4. UNLV - 312-309-621
T5. Tennessee - 318-306-624
T5. Michigan - 316-308-624
7. Purdue - 326-303-629
8. Nevada - 321-310-631
9. BYU - 325-310-625
10. Nebraska - 329-309-638
11. Iowa State - 327-312-639
12. Denver - 332-316-648
13. Northern Arizona - 332-321-653
14. Eastern Washington - 338-317-655
15. Indiana - 343-318-661
16. Memphis -336-327-663
17. UNLV (B) - 350-327-677
18. Northern Iowa - 344-340-684

Individual Leaders
1. Cassandra Kirkland, Arizona - 75-69-144 (Even)
2. Catalina Marin, USC - 73-73-146 (+2)
3. Eileen Vargas, Pepperdine - 74-75-149 (+5)
4. Heather Olmstead, Nevada - 80-70-150 (+6)
5. Elena Kurokawa, UNLV - 78-73-151 (+7)
T6. Lani Elston, Arizona - 76-76-152 (+8)
T6. Caroline Haase, Purdue - 76-76-152 (+8)
T6. Young Pak, UNLV - 77-75-152 (+8)
T9. Veronica Felibert, USC - 77-76-153 (+9)
T9. Louise Kenney, Iowa State - 81-72-153 (+9)
T9. Jessica Shepley, Tennessee - 79-74-153 (+9)

Nebraska Individual Results
T12. Chrissie McArdle - 78-76-154 (+10)
T35. Allison Stewart - 76-84-160 (+16)
T35. Chelsea Gehring - 80-80-160 (+16)
T39. Elli Brown - 86-75-161 (+17)
T44. Merynn Ito - 86-76-162 (+18)
T54. Sara Sackett - 80-84-164 (+20)
T66. Jackie Beste - 85-82-167 (+23)