WILMINGTON, N.C. – Penn State currently sits in eighth position after the first two rounds of competition in the Landfall Tradition hosted by UNCW at the Country Club of Landfall Dye Course on Saturday afternoon.
The field went out at 10 a.m. Saturday morning to conclude play in the first round which had been suspended late Friday due to inclement weather. The Nittany Lions shot an opening round 12-over, 300, to sit tied for third with Arkansas and just three strokes off the lead of 9-over, 297, held by Duke.
Senior Cara Basso (Downingtown, Pa.) led the team at 1-under through the opening 18 holes and sat in a tie for individual first place with Virunpat Olankitkunchai of Maryland. Basso went out in plus-1, 37, before turning in a bogey-free back nine of 2-under, 34.
The second round began shortly after the conclusion of the first round with a shotgun start and the Nittany Lions shot a 13-over, 301, dropping five spots to their current position of eighth place.
Arkansas used a 3-under second round of 285 to move into first place with a 9-over score. South Carolina (15-over), Virginia (17-over) and Duke (18-over) round out the top-4 while Maryland and Michigan currently sit tied for fifth place at 23-over.
"Scoring was tough out there today due to strong winds, but we still left a few strokes out there we would have liked to have back," mentioned head coach Denise St. Pierre. "We need a few more birdies tomorrow to settle ourselves in to some better scores."
Penn State had just seven birdies as a team in the second round after registering nine red numbers through the opening 18 holes.
Basso rounded out her day with a 2-over round of 74 and currently sits in sixth individually with a two round total of 145 (1-over) and is four strokes off Olankitkunchai's lead.
Freshman Sarah Willis (Eaton, Ohio) had a strong second round shooting a 1-over, 73, after firing a 5-over round of 77 during the opening 18 holes of play. The rookie currently sits tied for 26th at 6-over for the tournament.
Also tied for 26th individually is senior Lauren Waller (Canonsburg, Pa.) who carded back-to-back rounds of 75 to open the championship. Classmate Jackie Rogowicz (Yardley, Pa.) went 77 (5-over), 79 (7-over) while junior Megan McLean (Lebanon, N.J.) registered rounds of 79 (7-over) and 81 (9-over) to round out the scoring.
The tournament will conclude tomorrow with the final round set for an 8:45 a.m. shotgun start.