Stevenson Climbs to Eighth at Lady Pirate

Greenville, N.C. - JC Stevenson ascended into the top 10 on the individual leaderboard with a two-over-par 73 on Monday to lead the Nebraska women's golf team to a fourth-place team standing after the second day of the Lady Pirate Intercollegiate.

Stevenson, a junior from Grand Island, Neb., fired Nebraska's best score through the first 36 holes of the three-day event with her 73 on the 5,939-yard, par-71 layout at the Greenville Country Club. Stevenson moves into Tuesday's final 18 holes in eighth place at 149, after producing rounds of 76 and 73 in the first two days of the event.

Stevenson is seven shots off the pace set by East Carolina's Abby Bools, who took the individual lead with a two-under-par 69 on Monday. Bools heads into the final round at 142, one stroke ahead of Georgia State's Iliska Verwey, who fired the top round of the tournament so far with a 68 on Monday. Verwey enters the final 18 holes at 143.

Verwey was one of three Georgia State golfers in the top five individually after the first 36 holes, as GSU owns a commanding 13-shot lead in the team standings over the hosts from East Carolina. Georgia State scorched the course for a one-over-par 285 on Monday to close the second round at 584. ECU is a distant second at 597, while Miami sits in third place at 599 in the 20-team tournament field.

Nebraska heads into Tuesday's final round in fourth place at 608, one shot ahead of Elon, which bounced back from an opening-round 319 to sizzle for a 290 on Monday.

The Huskers produced a 303 in the second round, two strokes better than the 305 they shot on Sunday, but four other teams finished with scores of 294 or better on Monday.

"We played OK, but we're just not quite there yet," Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl said. "We played some really good golf for stretches, but then we would go into some lapses that really hurt us. The conditions were pretty good today and obviously the course was giving up some good scores, we just couldn't take advantage of it. Hopefully we can put it all together and come back with a really strong final round tomorrow."

Along with Stevenson's climb up the leaderboard on Monday, sophomore Mary Kate Bird also approached the top 10 in the individual standings. Bird managed a second-round 75 to move into a tie for 11th place at 151.

Freshman Natalie Gleadall also made a major move up the leaderboard, vaulting nine spots from a tie for 42nd into a tie for 33rd after a second-round 76. Gleadall heads into the final round at 155.

Unfortunately for the Huskers, Gleadall was joined by junior Kate White in 33rd place, after White settled for a second-round 79. White fell 19 spots in the individual standings from a tie for 14th.

Sophomore Rachel Hanigan also slipped on the leaderboard after battling her way to an 80. Hanigan heads into the final round in a tie for 48th among the 102 golfers in the tournament. 

The Huskers will play the final 18 holes of the tournament beginning at 8 a.m. central time on Tuesday. Live scoring of the tournament is available on Huskers.com through GolfStat.com.

Lady Pirate Intercollegiate
Greenville, N.C. (Host: East Carolina)
Greenville Country Club
Par 71, 5,939 Yards
Oct. 19-21, 2008

Team Standings (After Two Rounds)
1. Georgia State - 299-285-584
2. East Carolina - 303-294-597
3. Miami - 308-291-599
4. Nebraska - 305-303-608
5. Elon - 319-290-609
6. Georgetown - 305-305-610
7. UTEP - 316-301-617
8. East Tennessee State - 314-305
9. Winthrop - 321-300-621
T10. William & Mary - 310-312-622
T10. James Madison - 319-301-622
T10 - Florida International - 314-308-622
13. Gardner-Webb - 314-309-623
14. Western Carolina - 315-311-626
15. Richmond - 312-316-628
16. Xavier - 322-307-629
17. Maryland - 327-318-651
18. Old Dominion - 333-318-651
19. High Point - 339-336-675
20. Presbyterian College - 367-359-726

Individual Leaderboard (After One Round)
1. Abby Bools, East Carolina - 73-69-142
2. Iliska Verwey, Georgia State - 75-68-143
3. Sandra Maier, Georgia State - 74-70-144
4. Maria Ronderos, Miami - 74-72-146
T5. Belen Buendia, Florida International - 72-75-147
T5. Jennifer Hirano, Miami - 74-73-147
T5. Cathrine Madsen , Georgia State - 74-73-147
8. JC Stevenson, Nebraska - 76-73-149
T9. Carly Hunt, Georgetown - 73-77-150
T9. Amber Littman, East Carolina - 75-75-150

Nebraska Individuals
8. JC Stevenson - 76-73-149
T11. Mary Kate Bird - 76-75-151
T33. Kate White - 76-79-155
T33. Natalie Gleadall - 79-76-155
T48. Rachel Hanigan - 77-80-157