April 16, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio -
In a bunched leader board at the Lady Buckeye Invitational, the Illinois (629) women's golf team sits seventh out of 12 teams after the first 36 holes of play. Illinois carded a first round 24-over par 312 and a second round 29-over par 317 and is only eight strokes out of second. No. 22 Michigan State (603) leads the event, held at the par-72, 6,228-yard Ohio State University Scarlet Golf Course, followed by No. 34 Kent State (621), No. 31 Ohio State (623), and Wisconsin (626). No. 39 Northwestern (628) and No. 16 Iowa State (628) are tied for fifth.
"The scores weren't too terribly low for any of the teams," head coach Renee Slone said. "It was a challenging day weather-wise. We're right there in the thick of things once again."
Junior Nora Lucas (155) continued her strong play of late, leading the Illini with rounds of 79-76 and is tied for ninth at 11-over par. Junior Samantha Sloan (157) finished the day tied for 19th after rounds of 78-79 and is 13-over par. Junior Katelin Dilger (158) carded rounds of 76-82 and is tied for 22nd at 14-over par.
"Nora had a solid second round today," Slone said. "With the conditions a bit more challenging in the afternoon, she was able to improve her score from the first round. She is just playing some very patient golf."
Senior Raquel Hopton (160) tallied rounds of 79-81 and is tied for 32nd at 16-over par. Rounding out the Illini are freshman Ember Schuldt (161), with rounds of 80-81 and is tied for 37th at 17-over par and junior Hailey Koschmann (166), carding rounds of 79-87 and is tied for 53rd at 22-over par.
"With a good round tomorrow, we can really move by some teams and still have a great opportunity at a top three finish," Slone said. "It is a great opportunity and hopefully we can take advantage of it."
The third and final round of the Lady Buckeye Invitational starts Sunday, with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. For continuing coverage check fightingillini.com, including a full recap of the final round. To follow the action live, visit golfstatresults.com.
7 ILLINOIS 312-317 = 629 (+53)
T9 Nora Lucas 79-76 = 155 (+11)
T19 Samantha Sloan 78-79 = 157 (+13)
T22 Katelin Dilger 76-82 = 158 (+14)
T32 Raquel Hopton 79-81 = 160 (+16)
T37 Ember Schuldt 80-81 = 161 (+17)
T53 Hailey Koschmann 79-87 = 166 (+22)
