Oct. 11, 2008

DAYTONA, Fla. -- On the strength of some strong rounds by Therese Nilsson and Channing Norton, the Lamar women's golf team is tied for fourth after two rounds of the LPGA International/Xavier Invitational at the LPGA Champions Course.

The 15-team tournament began with the first round on Friday afternoon and the second of three on Saturday. But Friday's round wasn't completed until Saturday morning due to darkness. When the first round was finished, Lamar stood in seventh place with a 313.

Nilsson and Norton posted scores of 72 and 74, respectively to pace the Lady Cardinals.

In Saturday's second round, both players continued to lead the charge for Lamar with a pair of even-par 72s as the team's 300 total was its lowest of the fall season and the third-lowest of the day and put them in a tie for fourth at 613 with Bethune-Cookman.

Yale leads the chase for the team title with a 601 score thanks to a 296 on Saturday. Florida Atlantic is second at 604 with Eastern Michigan in third at 605.

Nilsson is atop the individual scoreboard at even-par 144, two strokes ahead of Norton, Olivia Higgins of Charleston Southern and Praewnapa Phol-uayporn of FAU at 146.

All three of Lamar's remaining team members turned in lower scores in the second round than the first.

Linda Persson is tied for 42nd at 83-77--160, Lina Nilsson-Balfe is tied for 61st at 86-79--165 and Jannel Alexander is tied for 65th with a 84-82--166 total.

Conditions were an issue for the field in Friday's first round after heavy rains forced many of the teams to halt their practice rounds early. The rainout also caused wet conditions, muddy tee boxes and the implementation of the lift, clean and place rule.

Sunday's final round will begin with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. Eastern time.