Huskers Hope to Make Charge in Final Round at UNLV

Boulder City, Nev. - The Nebraska women's golf team fired a second-round total of 298 to match Monday's opening round score, but slipped from seventh to 11th place at 596 heading into Wednesday's final round at the UNLV Spring Invitational.

Near-perfect scoring conditions ruled the par-72, 6,199-yard layout of the Boulder Creek Golf Club again on Tuesday, with the tournament leaders from Brigham Young continuing to take full advantage of calm conditions with temperatures in the mid-80s. BYU added a five-under-par 283 to yesterday's eight-under 280 to lead the tournament with a 13-under-par 36-hole total of 563. The Cougars increased their lead over Indiana, which fired 285 for the second straight day to enter the final round with a six-under-par 570, seven strokes back of BYU.

Idaho charged up the leaderboard on Tuesday with a sizzling seven-under-par 281 to find itself 10 strokes off the lead at 580 through 36 holes.

Although the Huskers sit in 11th place, they are just 11 strokes out of fifth place. Coach Robin Krapfl said if the Huskers can put together a great round on Wednesday, they may be able to make a major move.

"Today was frustrating in the sense that we drove the ball well and we hit a lot of greens, and then we didn't finish off our putts," Krapfl said. "We never really got a good grasp of the speed of the greens and we left a ton of putts short. You can't make them if you don't give yourself a chance, so I think we really learned something from today's round. That was the difference between a good round of 298 and a potentially great round. We'll just have to try and put together a great round tomorrow."

Freshman Kate White jumped up the leaderboard on Tuesday with an even-par 72 to lead the Huskers. White, a native of Waukegan, Ill., leaped 20 spots from a tie for 50th into a tie for 30th after managing a 76 on Monday. She enters the final day of competition at 148, 11 strokes off the blistering pace set BYU's Rachel Newren, who leads the tournament with a seven-under par 137. New Mexico's Jodi Ewart is just one shot back at 138, while BYU's Danielle von Arnim is in third with a 139.

Nebraska junior Allison Stewart added a 78 on Tuesday after an opening-round 72 to slip into a tie for 40th at 150 through 36 holes. Freshman JC Stevenson, who also fired a first-round 72, managed a 79 in the second round to dip into a tie for 47th at 151.

Senior Chrissie McArdle moved up 15 spots into a tie for 55th with a two-over 74 on Tuesday to head into the final round at 152, while junior Elli Brown added a 74 of her own to jump 15 spots into 68th place after settling for an 80 on Monday. Sophomore Megan Place, playing as an individual, rounded out NU's contingent with a 79 to climb two spots into 91st place.

Wednesday's final round starts with tee times at 9:30 a.m. central time. Elli Brown will be the first off the tee for the Huskers starting at 11:09 a.m. Live scoring will be available on Huskers.com through a link provided by GolfStat.com.

UNLV Spring Invitational
Nebraska Results Through Two Rounds
Boulder Creek Golf Club (Par 72, 6,199 Yards)
Boulder City, Nev.

T30. Kate White (76-72-148)
T40. Allison Stewart (72-78-150)
T47. JC Stevenson (72-79-151)
T55. Chrissie McArdle (78-74-152)
68. Elli Brown (80-74-154)
91. Megan Place (85-79-164) (IND)