Oct. 28, 2012

Austin, Texas - Illinois women's golf is 14th after round one of the 39th Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invite hosted by the University of Texas. Illinois shot an opening round 24-over par 312 at the 6,344 yard, par-72 University of Texas Golf Club.

Sixth-ranked Alabama leads the tournament at -4 followed by Arkansas (E), No. 3 Arizona State (+2), No. 2 Florida (+5) and Denver (+6).

Sophomore Pimploy Thirati paced Illinois with a career-best one-over par 73 and ends the day in a tie for 19th, five shots behind first-round leader, Shu Yin-Liu of Tulsa, who shot 68. Thirati had 13 pars and two birdies on the day. Alabama's Jennifer Kirby and Stephanie Meadow and UCLA's Erynne Lee are tied for second at -1.

Sophomore Samantha Postillion, who transferred from Texas, shot a first round 78 in the return to her former home course. Postillion is tied with teammates Ember Schuldt for 59th. Sophomore Jacqueline Calamaro and freshman Michelle Mayer shot 83 and 84, respectively.

The second and third rounds are slated for Monday and Tuesday, respectively. Fans can follow live scoring at golfstatresults.com .