PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Penn State women's golf team took the term moving day seriously climbing six spots during the second round of the 2023 Big Ten Championships on Saturday at Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Nittany Lions shaved 15 strokes of their round one total carding the fourth-lowest team score of the second round with an 8-over, 292, to move into seventh in the 14-team field at 31-over entering Sunday's final round.
"Early in the round there was heavy rain and strong winds and the team hung in there and didn't let it rattle them," commented head coach Denise St. Pierre. "Our team is strong from player one through player six which helps if someone is not having their best day."
Ohio State jumped Illinois for the top spot on the leaderboard following the low round of the day with a 1-over, 285. The Buckeyes are currently 9-over for the championship and one shot clear of the Illini at 10-over. Maryland and Northwestern are tied for third at 13-over while Nebraska climbed three spots into fifth at 26-over to round out the top-5.
For a second-straight day birdies were at a premium as just 10 players in the 83-player field carded rounds of even par or better with one of those 10 being senior Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) who navigated the rainy conditions racing up the leaderboard with a 48-spot improvement following a 1-under, 70. Delavallade was 3-under after eight holes and maintained that score for the majority of the afternoon before giving a few shots back over her final two holes and is currently tied for 21st at 7-over for the weekend.
"I tried to stay patient with the weather," mentioned Delavallade. "I had some good approach shots today which gave me some easy birdies and I also made some important putts which wasn't the case yesterday."
Classmate Isha Dhruva (Katy, Texas) remained consistent finishing the second round with a 3-over, 74, and is currently tied for 21st position while senior Taylor Waller (Canonsburg, Pa.) bounced back after a tough opening round shaving 11 shots off her score with a 2-over, 73, on Saturday to move up 13 spots of her own.
Sophomore Drew Nienhaus (St. Louis, Mo.) registered the fourth countable score for the Nittany Lions on Saturday with a 4-over, 75, highlighted by a 2-under stretch over her final 10 holes after opening the round 6-over through her first eight holes.
"When I reached hole 17 (my ninth hole of the round after starting on nine) coach told me that I shouldn't give up because any time you have another shot something extraordinary can happen," recalled Nienhaus. "I told myself that I needed to get it together for not only for me, but for the team. It was important to me that I finished strong and gave it my all."
Sophomore Michelle Cox (Allentown, Pa.) and senior Sarah Willis (Eaton, Ohio) rounded out the day with scores of 5-over, 76, and 6-over, 77, respectively. Willis came in at even-par over her final nine holes of the day and is currently tied for 47th at 12-over for the week while Cox is tied for 39th at 10-over.
The Nittany Lions are back on the course tomorrow morning for the final round with the first six tee times of the day off hole one between 8 a.m. and 8:47 a.m.
Full second round results can be viewed HERE.
