UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State improved by nine strokes during the second round of play in the 2018 Nittany Lion Invitational on Saturday afternoon and currently sit in second place just four strokes back of No. 16 Washington after day one with a two-round score of 585 (plus-nine).
Rutgers sits two shots behind the Nittany Lions while Seton Hall and Navy round out the top five.
Playing as an individual, freshman Sarah Willis (Eaton, Ohio) is currently pacing the 90 player field at 6-under after firing rounds of 68 (4-under) and 70 (2-under) to sit atop the leaderboard shooting a 138. Willis leads Maeve Rossi of Rutgers by three strokes heading into the final round of competition.
"I was putting really well today," mentioned Willis. "My main focus was staying in my own bubble and doing my best to feel confident about the rest of my game."
Along with Willis, two other Nittany Lions currently sit in the top-10 as senior Cara Basso (Downingtown, Pa.) is just five strokes off the lead at 1-under par after firing a 3-under 69 in round two while classmate Jackie Rogowicz (Yardley, Pa.) is tied for sixth at 2-over after rounds of 74 and 72.
"I just settled into my swing a bit better in round two," commented Basso. "I felt like my alignment was off a little and near the end of my first round coach Breon told me to just calm down and take time with my routine. I feel that helped me get myself set better before each swing."
Basso shaved five strokes off her game during the second round after opening with a 2-over, 74.
Senior Lauren Waller (Canonsburg, Pa.) along with junior Megan McLean (Lebanon, N.J.) and sophomore Olivia Zambruno (Mt. Pleasant, Pa.) also had quality days and currently sit tied for 13th at 4-over-par. Zambruno, who is playing as an individual this weekend, made at 16-spot leap from round one to round two tying her career-best round of 72 (even) during the second round of play.
After a slow start to the opening round of play, Penn State jumped nine spots to finish the round in second just three strokes behind Washington. McLean closed out her opening round with four-straight birdies to shoot a 2-over 74 while Waller and Rogowicz each birdied two of their final three holes.
Penn State finished the day with 43 birdies and one eagle on the card led by Willis with ten birdies including seven during her opening round.
FULL DAY ONE RESULTS
