April 21, 2007

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Northwestern's women's golf team, ranked No. 33 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Index, could not avoid trouble during Saturday's 36 holes on the Scarlet Course at the Lady Buckeye Invitational and sits in ninth heading into the tournament's final round on Sunday.

Although No. 13 Purdue was able to shoot a pair of sub-300 rounds to take an 11-stroke lead over second-place Michigan State after day one, the real winner so far has been the Scarlet Course. The par-72 layout proved to be a tough track for most teams on day one, and Northwestern was no exception.

The 33rd-ranked 'Cats shot 69-over 645 (313-332=645) for their 36 holes on Saturday, which places them in ninth heading into Sunday's final round. An opening-round 313 put the Wildcats in third place after 18 holes, but the Scarlet Course proved more difficult for the 'Cats the second time around as they shot a second-round 332 to fall back to their current ninth-place standing.

The Wildcats are nine strokes clear of 10th-place Western Michigan and only two strokes behind eighth-place Wisconsin.

A trio of seniors has been leading Northwestern throughout the year, but on day one at the Lady Buckeye Invitational a pair of juniors paced the 'Cats. Brittany Johnston (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) felt right at home in her native state, firing a 2-over 74 in the opening round -- Northwestern's lowest round of the day -- and followed that up with an 8-over 80 in the second round for a 36-hole total of 10-over 154 that puts her in a tie for 11th with 18 holes remaining.

Right behind Johnston was fellow junior Katie Trachok (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair), who shot an opening-round 76 and 36-hole total of 14-over 158 (76-82=158). Trachok will enter Sunday's final round in a tie for 23rd.

Northwestern's other four golfers are in a bunch ranging from 17-over to 22-over par. Of the four, senior Liliana Alvarez (Durango, Mexico/American School of Durango) shot the lowest 36-hole score (+17), followed by Jennifer Hong (Windermere, Fla./The First Academy) at 18-over, Heather Scholten (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) at 20-over and senior Alice Kim (Los Angeles, Calif./Brentwood) at 22-over.

Sunday's final round will commence with a shotgun start at noon CT. The 'Cats begin play on holes 4-7 as they look to make a charge up the leaderboard.

Live stats for the Lady Buckeye Invitational can be found at Lady Buckeye Invitational.

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