SPRINGFEILD, Ill. -Â The Illinois State women's golf team concluded day one of the Missouri Valley Conference Championship Sunday with a team score of 297, finishing the day tied with Wichita State for third overall at the Panther Creek Country Club.
Head coach Darby Sligh is happy with her team's performance and knows that the key to success will have to be consistent game play.
"We did exactly what we needed to do Sunday to be in contention," Sligh said. "We played very solid golf the front nine and built a decent lead, but then gave some shots back towards the middle and end of the round. This course lends itself well to scoring low so we will really need to make some birdies Monday. Overall, I'm proud of how we battled."
Senior Rachel Powers led the team with a one-over-par score of 73, tying her for seventh overall. Just one stroke ahead of juniors Hayley Guyton and Lauren English, both of whom carded a 74 and tied for 12th place, respectively.
Senior Brianna Cooper was not far behind, shooting a 76 and tying for 20th, marking the first time this season that four Redbirds placed in the top-20 on the leaderboard. Rounding out the lineup was senior Jordyn Wyzgowski, who carded a one-round score of 83.
Illinois State rival and host school, Bradley, sits in first place with combined team score of 293. Indiana State is three strokes behind in second with a score of 296, just one stroke ahead of the third place tie between Wichita State and the Redbirds (297).Â
ISU looks to climb the rankings in the second round of play Monday, beginning at 9 a.m. (CST), with a shotgun start.
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