French Lick, Ind. –The Fighting Illini women's golf team finished up the second day at the Big Ten Championships on Saturday, April 27, with a team round score of 318 (+30). With their first round of 311, the Orange and Blue now bear a running team total of 629 (+53), which places the Illini in 11^thplace among the 12-team field. Despite not shooting as well as they did in the first round, the Illini maintain a five stroke lead on 12^th-place Nebraska (634).

The Fighting Illini teed off from the 10th hole again in the second round and, as a team, the Orange and Blue collectively carded similar scores on the back nine and the front nine. After the close of the second round of action at the Big Ten Championships, the Illini trail ninth-place Iowa (619) by 10 strokes while 10th-place Michigan (622) holds a seven stroke advantage over Illinois.

Following the close of the second day's contest, No. 29 Northwestern (582) still claims sole control of first place with a five stroke lead on the 15th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers (587). No. 24 Michigan State (600) shaved six strokes off of its first round score to move up from fifth into third place, one stroke ahead of Penn State (601) in fourth. Ohio State (608) rounds out the top five teams, trailing the Nittany Lions by seven strokes heading into the third and final day of competition.

Illinois sophomore Michelle Mayer (154) was successful in cutting off two strokes from her first round score to move her up from 34^th place to 27^thplace among the field of Big Ten individuals. Teammates Ember Schuldt(157) and Samantha Postillion (158) didn't quite match their first round scores, but nonetheless Schuldt sits in a tie for 36^th individually and Postillion is close behind in a tie for 41^st. Pimploy Thirati (162) carded four more strokes in the second round than she had in the first as she currently shares occupancy of 58^th place with two other golfers. Illinois' Jacqueline Calamaro(163) and Kaitlyn Wampler (173) comprise the remainder of the Illini's scorecard.

Leading the tournament individually is Purdue Boilermaker Paula Reto (142), who leads Northwestern's Kaitlin Park (143) by a mere stroke. Purdue's Kishi Sinha (146) has sole posession of third place with a one stroke advantage on a three-way tie for fourth at the 147-stroke mark.

The Orange and Blue will pick up play again Sunday morning at the Big Ten Championships when the team tees off at 8 a.m. CT from the 10th hole. For further news about the Big Ten Championships, visithttp://www.fightingillini.com/sports/w-golf/ill-w-golf-body.html for a full recap of the tournament following the final round of action. Fans can also visithttp://www.golfstatresults.com//public/index.cfm?tournament_id=4241 to follow the contest in a live scoring fashion.