Notre Dame moves up to fifth at its Clover Cup

   Freshman Isabella DiLisio, the 2013 PIAA Class AAA champion at Mount St. Joseph, kept Notre Dame afloat with her opening-round 71 in the Notre Dame Clover Cup, but struggled in Saturday’s second round.

   But that’s what this team thing is all about as her teammates picked up DiLisio Saturday and the Fighting Irish, ranked 27^th by Golfweek, put up the best team score of the day to move up to fifth place in the team standings at Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz.

   With Emma Albrecht, DiLisio’s fellow freshman from Ormond Beach, Fla., leading the way with a 1-under 71 over the 6,184-yard, par-72 Longbow layout, the Irish posted a round of 2-over 290 for a 36-hole total of 13-over 589.

   The two other top-50 teams in the field, No. 42 Texas Christian University and No. 44 Southern Methodist University, continued to battle for the team title. TCU and SMU posted matching 4-over 292s enabling the Horned Frogs to maintain a one-shot edge over the Mustangs. TCU is at even-par 576 while SMU is a shot back at 1-over 577.

   Oklahoma has a solid hold on third following the day’s second-best score, a 3-over 291, and is at 5-over 581, four shots back of SMU. University of North Carolina-Wilmington had a 293 to move into fourth place at 8-over 284, three shots back of the Sooners and five clear of the host Irish.

   Notre Dame got another steady round of even-par 72 from Talia Campbell, the Irish’s senior leader from Dallas, and she is tied for 12^th at 2-over 146. Albrecht’s 71 moved her into a tie for 17^th at 4-over 148. Jordan Ferreira, a junior from University Place, Wash., had a 73 and is tied for 24^th at 6-over 150. And Maddie Rose Hamilton, a freshman from Louisville, Ky., had a 74 and is tied for 34^th at 151.

   DiLisio, the 2014 Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur champion, fell back with a 79 and she is in the group with Ferreira at 150, giving the Irish four players in the top 25 in the individual standings.

   Brooke Graebe, a freshman from Yorba Linda, Calif., is leading the way for TCU. After sharing the opening-round lead with a 5-under 67, she fell to back to an even-par 72, but that was still good enough to leave her in a tie for second at 5-under 139.

   South Florida’s Nicole Autrique, a junior from Mexico, had shared the first-round lead with Graebe and she matched Graebe’s second-round 72 to share second place with her.

   It was UNC-Wilmington’s Annette Lyche, a senior from Norway who tamed the Longbow course with a 5-under 67 Saturday, who moved into the top spot at 6-under 138.

   Florida International’s Meghan MacLaren, a senior from England, had a 1-under 71 to earn a share of third place with Oklahoma’s Rylee Pedigo, a senior from Fort Worth, Texas who had a 2-under 70, at 3-under 141. Pedigo’s fellow Sooner Hannah Wood, a sophomore from Centennial, Colo., is another shot back in sixth in the team standings at 2-under 142 following a 74. Pedigo and Wood have the Sooners in with a shot at the team title.

   SMU has a trio of players among the group tied for eighth at 1-over 145. Jenny Haglund, a senior from Sweden, and Brigette Dunne, a freshman from Camarillo, Calif., both matched par with 72s Saturday. Katie Page, a junior from Louisville, Ky., fell back after her opening-round 69 with a 76 Saturday.

   Penn State, playing in its first tournament of the spring portion of its schedule, moved up a spot to eighth with a 305 that left the Nittany Lions at 606. Denise St. Pierre’s team was led by her three freshman recruits who, like DiLisio, were standouts on the Pennsylvania scholastic scene.

   Penn State got a nice bounce-back round from Cara Basso, the 2012 PIAA Class AA champion at Villa Maria Academy who fired a 3-over 75 after an opening-round 81 to move up to a tie for 57^th at 156. Jackie Rogowicz, a two-time PIAA Class AAA runnerup at Pennsbury, fell back with a second-round 77, but remains Penn State’s top player in the individual chase as she is tied for 19^th at 5-over 149. Lauren Waller, runnerup to Radnor’s Brynn Walker at the 2014 PIAA Class AAA Tournament, matched Basso’s 75 and is tied for 39^th at 152.

   Also counting for Penn State was Grace Chung, a senior from Canada who had a 78 and is tied for 51^st at 155. Ariana Coyle Diez, a sophomore from Ireland, had an 80 Saturday to join Chung in the group tied for 51^st at 155.

   The best score turned in by a Penn State golfer, however, was the 2-over 74 by Halley Murell, a senior from Brecksville, Ohio who is competing as an individual. She is in the group tied for 24^th at 150, the best score among the group competing as individuals in the event.

   One of DiLisio’s teammates at Mount St. Joseph, Alison Snakard, is competing as an individual for Notre Dame in the Clover Cup and the sophomore added an 81 to her opening-round 80 and is tied for 74^th at 161.