Huskers in Fourth at Big 12 Championships

Lincoln - Steph Ruiz fired a one-under par 71 and Elli Brown remained in the top five by adding a 73 to lead Nebraska to a fourth-place finish after two rounds at the 2006 Big 12 Women's Golf Championships at the Country Club of Lincoln on Tuesday.

The strong rounds by Ruiz and Brown kept the Huskers within in striking distance of team leader Oklahoma State. Nebraska enters Wednesday's final round at 604, 12 strokes behind the Cowgirls, who closed the first 36 holes of the three-day event at 592 after producing a second-round 291.

Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl said the Huskers improved their performance on the second day of the tournament.

"The team played well. We improved today. It was fun to watch," Krapfl said. "The team is really playing solid and we are looking forward to tomorrow. Elli and Steph had great days - nothing spectacular - they are just playing really solid. The main thing for tomorrow are that the conditions are going to be tough and we really need to stay within ourselves and play well."

The Huskers shot 297 on Tuesday, after opening the tournament with a 307 on Monday, but slipped a spot in the team standings from a tie for third with Baylor into fourth place behind OSU, Texas A&M and Missouri.

The Tigers produced the top round of the tournament on Tuesday with a blistering 287 on the par-72, 6,167-yard layout at the Country Club of Lincoln.

OSU, which entered the day with a one-stroke lead over second-place Texas A&M, increased its lead to three strokes after the Aggies shot a 293 on Tuesday. Texas A&M is still well within striking distance of the top spot, entering Wednesday's final round at 595 after shooting an opening-round 302 on Monday.

Texas A&M's Ashley Knoll owns a five-strike lead over Iowa State's Jessica Shin and Oklahoma State's Pernilla Lindberg, who produced Tuesday's top round with a three-under par 69, in the individual standings. Shin added a two-under par 70 to tie Lindberg in second at 145.

Missouri's Stephanie Wavro added a 70 of her own to climb into fourth place at 146. Wavro led a strong charge by the Tigers, who climbed from eighth to third place in the team standings.

Ruiz, a senior from Edmond, Okla., led the Huskers on Tuesday with her one-under par 71 to climb from a tie for 16th into a tie for eighth place heading into the final round. Ruiz was one of only seven golfers to shoot below par on Tuesday and closed the second day of the tournament at 148, eight strokes behind A&M's Knoll (140).

Ruiz said she enjoyed her second day on the Country Club of Lincoln course and was looking forward to Wednesday's final round.

"I played really solid. I didn't have any bogeys until 18, so 17 holes with no bogeys is pretty good. I had a lot of fun today," Ruiz said. "We haven't all clicked on the same day, so hopefully that will happen tomorrow. We're not exactly where we want to be, but we do a really good job of coming back from behind and we plan on doing that tomorrow."

Although she did not go below par, Brown improved on her first-round score to remain in the top five individually after two rounds. Brown, a sophomore from Meridian, Idaho, put together a one-over par 73 on Tuesday to sit in a tie for fifth at 147, seven strokes off the pace.

Brown said the Huskers have the potential to make a charge up the leaderboard in the final round.

"I think we have a really good opportunity for tomorrow," Brown said. "We put ourselves in the position to do the best that we can. All we can do is focus on the day at hand and do our best."

Allison Stewart added a 76 for the Huskers to close the second round at 153 in a tie for 20th, while Sara Sackett managed a 77 to close the day at 156 in a tie for 32nd.

The tournament concludes with the final 18 holes on Wednesday with tee times off the first and 10th tees starting at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring can be viewed at GolfStat.com and Huskers.com.

Big 12 Women's Golf Championships
April 17-19, 2006
Country Club of Lincoln
Lincoln, Neb.
Par 72, 6,167 Yards

Team Standings

1 1 Oklahoma State +16 F +3 301 291 5922 2 Texas A&M University +19 F +5 302 293 5953 8 Missouri, U. of +24 F -1 313 287 6004 T3 Nebraska, U. of +28 F +9 307 297 6045 7 Kansas State Univ. +33 F +9 312 297 6096 T5 Iowa State Univ. +34 F +13 309 301 6107 10 Colorado, U. of +35 F +8 315 296 6118 T3 Baylor +40 F +21 307 309 616T9 12 Oklahoma +42 F +13 317 301 618T9 9 Texas +42 F +16 314 304 61811 T5 Texas Tech Univ +52 F +31 309 319 62812 11 Kansas, U. of +58 F +30 316 318 634

 

Individual Leads

1 1 Ashley Knoll Texas A&M University -4 F -1 69 71 140T2 T5 Jessica Shin Iowa State Univ. +1 F -2 75 70 145T2 T10 Pernilla Lindberg Oklahoma State +1 F -3 76 69 1454 T10 Stephanie Wavro Missouri, U. of +2 F -2 76 70 146T5 T5 Anna Rehnholm Baylor +3 F E 75 72 147T5 T5 Candie Herrera Oklahoma State +3 F E 75 72 147T5 4 Elli Brown Nebraska, U. of +3 F +1 74 73 147T8 T5 Julia Best Texas +4 F +1 75 73 148T8 T16 Stephanie Ruiz Nebraska, U. of +4 F -1 77 71 148T10 T10 Katy Heffel Kansas State Univ. +5 F +1 76 73 149T10 T16 Brenda Norris Texas A&M University +5 F E 77 72 149T10 T27 Maria Perrson-Gulda Colorado, U. of +5 F -1 78 71 149T10 3 Jennifer Karr Oklahoma State +5 F +4 73 76 149T14 T32 Kelli Strubinger Missouri, U. of +6 F -1 79 71 150T14 T10 Ellen Hoeper Missouri, U. of +6 F +2 76 74 15016 T16 Helene Robert Kansas State Univ. +7 F +2 77 74 151T17 T16 Christi Athas Iowa State Univ. +8 F +3 77 75 152T17 T27 Mallorie Underwood Oklahoma State +8 F +2 78 74 152T17 T32 Lindsay Caljouw Colorado, U. of +8 F +1 79 73 152T20 T16 Meredith Jones Baylor +9 F +4 77 76 153T20 T10 Megan Dowdy Texas Tech Univ +9 F +5 76 77 153T20 T16 Brittany Givilancz Texas +9 F +4 77 76 153T20 2 Gloriana Soto Texas Tech Univ +9 F +9 72 81 153T20 T16 Karin Kinnerud Oklahoma State +9 F +4 77 76 153T20 T32 Hannah Hoch Colorado, U. of +9 F +2 79 74 153T20 T16 Allison Stewart Nebraska, U. of +9 F +4 77 76 153T20 T16 Lauren Johnson Texas A&M University +9 F +4 77 76 153T20 T16 Kendall Dye Oklahoma +9 F +4 77 76 153