Falcons Remain In Ninth After Day Two At MAC Championship

Saturday, April 23

Nashport, Ohio

All Day

Bowling Green State University

Mid-American Conference Championship

April 23, 2011 | Women's Golf

By: by Matthew Daley, Athletic Communications Intern

The Bowling Green State University women's golf team improved their score by 11 strokes in the second round of the 2011 Mid-American Conference Championship but will enter the third and final day of the competition mired in ninth place.

Weather conditions for play on Saturday (April 23) at the Longaberger Golf Club in Nashport, Ohio were far better than on Friday. Rather than face rain, chill and wind, teams experienced some of the best weather of the season – sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s, with wind only a factor at the close of the round.

Falcon freshman Bailey Arnold parlayed change into an eight-stroke improvement from the first to the second round. Arnold shot a solid 77 for the day, including 13 pars. The total is one stroke shy of the best round for any Falcon golfer at the MAC Championship over the last five years. Arnold's two-round total (162) results in a tie for 22nd place.

Marisa Glew also completed a significant improvement from round one to round two. Glew shot seven strokes better on Saturday to complete an 18-hole score of 82. She was only two-over-par on the back nine, including seven pars. Combined with Friday's 89, Glew enters Sunday at 171 for the tournament.

Bowling Green's only birdie during Saturday's play was earned by Lauren Glew, who scored a two on the par-three 14th hole. The birdie concluded Glew's best three-hole stretch of the day after she shot par on holes 12 and 13. She finished the day with an 85 and stands at 167 (82-85) heading to the final round.

Amy Ruthenberg will begin play on Sunday with a composite 172 (85-87), while Paula DiFrancesco comes into the final round after a four-shot improvement on Saturday. Her total is 176 (90-86).

As a team, the Falcons shot 330 during Saturday's round. Six teams improved their scores from Friday to Saturday, but only Eastern Michigan bettered their total by a bigger margin than the Falcons' 11 strokes. With a total of 671 (341-330), Bowling Green is two strokes behind Northern Illinois.

Kent State heads to the final 18 holes with a five-stroke lead over Eastern Michigan. If KSU's lead holds, it will be their 13th consecutive MAC championship. However, EMU's 301 on Saturday is the best round of the tournament thus far.

EMU's Sarah Johnson retains the individual lead, shooting a one-over-par 145 (72-73). She leads two others by six strokes.

Complete results can be found HERE.

Bowling Green's tee times for the final round will be the same as they were on Saturday. Paula DiFrancesco leads off at 7:40 a.m., followed by Amy Ruthenberg, Marisa Glew and Lauren Glew. Bailey Arnold will be the final Falcon to begin play, at 8:20.

TEAM STANDINGS AFTER ROUND TWO
1. Kent State          305-307 612 (+36)
2. Eastern Michigan    316-301 617 (+41)
3. Ball State          312-316 628 (+52)
4. Western Michigan    316-316 632 (+56)
5. Akron               319-315 634 (+58)
6. Toledo              321-318 639 (+63)
7. Ohio                325-316 641 (+65)
8. Northern Illinois   337-332 669 (+93)
9. BOWLING GREEN       341-330 671 (+95)