Bremerton, Wash. – Five shots separate the five Santa Clara women's golfers competing in the WCC Championship after two rounds of play at the Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash. The Broncos compiled a team score of 317 on Tuesday to maintain their fourth place standing, 12 strokes behind third place BYU and 10 strokes better than fifth place San Francisco.
"We had some good stretches of play today," noted third-year head coach Krystal Kelly. "We have a young team with three freshmen playing and we are learning."
One of the first year players, Ashley Noda, remains the top Santa Clara scorer with a two-round total of 13-over-par 157 after carding an 80 on Tuesday. Finishing the round in 13th place, Noda is just three strokes out of a top-10 standing and is a single shot better than teammate Taylor Camany, who had the best round of the day for Santa Clara with a 6-over 78 for a two-round total of 158 (+14). "Taylor played really well today," said Kelly.
Senior Balbina Guajardo sits in 15th place with a two-day total of 159 (+15) after shooting an 81 in the second round and Meghan Shain was the only other Bronco to break 80 on Tuesday with a 79 for a total score of 160 (+16).
"Meghan had a nice round today," said Kelly. "She had one bad hole with a double-bogey, but otherwise she was solid."
Freshman Monique Riley shot an 80 on Tuesday, a two shot improvement from her first round score and is tied for 20th with a two-day score of 162 (+18).
Pepperdine's Grace Na, the individual champion in 2011 and the favorite this year, holds a two stroke lead over teammate Alina Ching after identical scores of 2-under 70 for a tournament total of 140 (-4). The Waves are seeking their 12th straight WCC team title and hold a 17-shot lead over Gonzaga heading into the final round.
"Ideally we would like to finish third," Kelly said about Wednesday's final round. "We talked about course management and better placement and the process, not so much the outcome. The team is real positive, we're going to go out and give our all tomorrow."
The Broncos will be grouped with USF and Cal State Bakersfield for the final round on Wednesday teeing off from the 1st hole starting at 8:10 a.m. (PDT). Live stats from the final round of play can be viewed here.
WCC Championship Second Rd Team Standings
1. Pepperdine 293-289 = 582 (+6)
2. Gonzaga 298-301 = 599 (+23)
3. BYU 308-313 = 621 (+45)
4. Santa Clara 316-317 = 633 (+57)
5. San Francisco 329-314 = 643 (+67)
6. Cal State Bakersfield 342-341 = 683 (+107)
Santa Clara Second Rd Individual Results
13. Ashley Noda 77-80 = 157 (+13)
14. Taylor Camany 80-78 = 158 (+14)
15. Balbina Guajardo 78-81 = 159 (+15)
T16. Meghan Shain 81-79 = 160 (+16)
T20. Monique Riley 82-80 = 162 (+18)