MAINEVILLE, Ohio – Junior Sarah Willis (Eaton, Ohio) tied her collegiate-best and the Penn State single-round low firing a 5-under, 67, on Saturday morning in the second round of the Big Ten Championship. The Nittany Lions shaved five strokes off their first-round total carding a 4-over, 292, and remain seventh at 13-over in the 13-team field.
Michigan State and Maryland are currently tied for first at 9-under after carding 7-under and 8-under, respectively, in the second round. 1-under, respectively. Michigan (2-under) is currently third while Northwestern and Nebraska are tied for fourth at 1-over. The Nittany Lions just three strokes behind Purdue (10-over) in sixth.
"Some pins were friendlier today and we were able to go for them," commented head coach Denise St. Pierre. "I am very proud of Sarah, she practiced the right things yesterday after her round and it paid off a couple of times for her today."
Willis started strong going 3-under on her opening nine and was 4-under through 11 holes before giving one back on the 12th but carded two more birdies on her way in to register a Penn State season-low and her second sub-70 round of the season. The junior climbed 25 spots on the day moving into seventh at 2-under for the championship and will begin her final-round just three strokes off the lead of Maryland's Laura Van Respaille. Willis' 67 was the low-round of the day and is currently the low-round of the tournament.
"I just did my best to keep things simple out there today and hit as many fairways and greens as possible," mentioned Willis. "I was able to take advantage of the par fives and roll in a few putts to stack up the birdies."
No Nittany Lion carded higher than a 76 (4-over) in the round with both freshman Victoria Tip-Aucha (Vienna, Va.) and junior Taylor Waller (Canonsburg, Pa.) shaving six and four strokes off their round one totals after registering a 74 (2-over) and a 75 (3-over), respectively.
Sophomore Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) slipped a bit in her second round carding a 4-over, 76, as she now sits tied for 28th at 4-over for the championship. Senior Megan McLean (Lebanon, N.J.) fired her second-consecutive 76 while sophomore Isha Dhruva (Katy, Texas) also recorded a 4-over, 76, to round out the team scoring. Dhruva is currently tied for 38th position at 6-over for the championship.
"I still feel our best team score is out there, we will prepare our game plan for tomorrow and do our best to chase it," concluded St. Pierre.
All 13 teams will be back in action for the final round tomorrow morning once again with split tee times beginning at 8 a.m. The Nittany Lions will be out early off the first tee with times starting at 8 a.m. and concluding at 8:45 a.m. and they will be paired with Wisconsin and Iowa.
FULL ROUND 2 RESULTS
