With individual leader Angelica Moresco, a junior from
Italy, heading a group of four Alabama players among the top six in the
individual standings, the Crimson Tide took control of the team chase after two
rounds of The Landfall Tradition Saturday at the Country Club of Landall’s Dye
Course in Wilmington, N.C.
Moresco carded a 2-under-par 70 over the 6,166-yard, par-72
Dye Course layout after opening with a 3-under 69 to take a two-shot lead in
the individual standings with a 5-under 139 total.
That helped Alabama, No. 13 in the latest Golfstat
rankings, fire a 10-under 278, the low team round of the tournament, to take an
11-shot lead over Southeastern Conference rival South Carolina, at No. 9 the
highest-ranked team in the field. The Crimson Tide had shared the lead with No.
19 Illinois after each carded a 3-under 285. Their sizzling second round left
them with a 13-under 563 total.
South Carolina added a 3-under 285 to its opening-round 289
to sit in second place at 2-under 574. Alabama and South Carolina were the only
two teams under par after two rounds.
It was five shots back to Atlantic Coast Conference power
Florida State, ranked 37th, in third place at 3-over 579 after adding a 2-over 290 to
its opening-round 289. Illinois, out of the Big Ten, fell back with an 8-over
296 to land in a tie for fourth place with No. 16 Oklahoma State, out of the
Big 12, at 5-over 581. The Cowgirls shaved three shots off their opening-round
292 with a 1-over 289.
Florida State’s ACC rival North Carolina, ranked 26th,
posted a second straight 8-over 296 and was alone in 11th place with
a 16-over 592 total.
Big Ten entry Penn State, ranked 86th, shared 13th
place in the 18-team field with No. 32 Virginia, another ACC entry, at 22-over
298. The Nittany Lions added a 302 to their opening-round 296 while the
Cavaliers, after opening with a 2-under 286, backed off with a 312 in the
second round.
Moresco was not alone in carrying Alabama to the top of the
team leaderboard. Kenzie Wright, a senior from Frisco, Texas, was one of four
players tied for second place, two shots behind Moresco at 3-under 141. Wright
added a 2-under 70 to her opening-round 71.
A pair of Alabama freshmen, Caroline Curtis of Richmond, Va.
and Emilie Overas, of Norway, were among a group of six players tied for sixth
place at 2-under 142. Curtis and Overas have been in lockstep as each fired a
3-under 69 after opening with a 1-over 73. That gave Alabama four players with
sub-par rounds in Saturday’s second round.
Rounding out the Alabama lineup was Polly Mack, a junior
from Germany who fell back after matching par in the opening round with a 72
with a 78 that left her among the group tied for 47th place at
6-over 150.
Joining Alabama’s Wright in the quartet tied for second were
Oklahoma State’s talented freshman, Isabella Fierro of Mexico, Florida State’s
veteran, Amanda Doherty, a senior from Brookhaven, Ga., and Indiana’s Priscilla
Schmid, a sophomore from Uruguay.
Fierro had the low round of the day with a 4-under 68 after
opening up with a 73. Earlier this month, Fierro broke the Oklahoma State
program record for 54 holes by four shots in claiming her first collegiate
victory in the Betsy Rawls Invitational.
Doherty added a 1-under 71 to her opening-round 70 while
Schmid cooled off a little from her opening round of 3-under 69 by matching par
with a 72.
Two South Carolina players, standout freshman Pauline
Roussin-Bouchard of France and No. 8 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking
(WAGR), and Ana Pelaez, a senior from Spain, were among the group of six
players tied for sixth place at 2-under 142.
Roussin-Bouchard, an impressive winner of the Windy City Collegiate
earlier this fall, added a 2-under 70 after matching par in the opening round
with a 72. Pelaez carded her second straight 1-under 71.
Rounding out the group at 2-under were Virginia Tech’s Becca
Dinunzio, a freshman from Norfolk, Va., and North Carolina State’s Lea
Klementova, a sophomore from Slovakia. Dinunzio and Klementova each carded a
2-under 70 after matching par in the opening round with a 72.
North Carolina was led by its two sophomore standouts as
Jennifer Zhou of China and Nicole Lu of Taiwan both landed among the group tied
for 25th place at 2-over 146. Zhou and Lu have each fired
consecutive 1-over 73s.
The Tar Heels’ two standout freshmen, Krista Junkkari of
Finland and Kayla Smith of Burlington, N.C., both ended up in the group tied
for 47th place at 6-over 150. Junkkari and Smith have each posted
consecutive 3-over 75s.
Rounding out the North Carolina lineup was Ava Bergner, a
junior from Germany who ended up alone in 94th place at 161 after
adding a 77 to her opening-round 84.
Mariana Ocano, a senior from St. Petersburg, Fla. competing
as an individual, was among the group tied for 65th place at 153
after adding a 4-over 76 to her opening-round 77.
Penn State was led by Sarah Willis, a sophomore from Eaton,
Ohio who had been tied for second after an opening-round 69, but fell back
Saturday with a 2-over 74 that left her in the group tied for 12th
place at 1-under 143.
Mathilde Delavallade, a freshman from France, added a 2-over
74 to her opening-round 76 to join the group tied for 47th place at
6-over 150. Senior Madelein Herr, a four-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Council
Rock North, landed among the group tied for 75th place at 155 after
adding a 77 to her opening-round 78.
Senior Megan McLean, who starred scholastically at Voorhees
High, was in the group tied for 82nd place after struggling to an
84. McLean had opened with a solid 1-over 73. Rounding out the Penn State
lineup was junior Olivia Zambruno, the 2016 PIAA Class AA champion as a senior
at Greensburg Central Catholic. Zambruno was in the group tied for 87th
place at 158 after improving four shots from her opening-round 81 with a 5-over
77.
Furman, which was 12th in the team standings at
17-over 593 after a 6-over 294, continues to get some solid golf out of
freshman Caroline Wrigley, the 2018 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at
North Allegheny. Wrigley added a 77 to her opening round of 4-over 76 to join the
group tied for 65th place at 9-over 153.
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