ST. CHARLES, Mo. – On a day that featured cold and wind, the Illinois State Redbirds have them positioned fourth heading into the final day of the Diane Daugherty Invitational, hosted by Southern Illinois University at Bogey Hills Country Club.
ISU's two-round total of 637 has them tied with Indiana State for fourth. MVC foe Missouri State leads the field with a two-round 597, with South Dakota (610) and Austin Peay (632) standing ahead of ISU. Creighton (639), Drake (642), Loyola (649), Belmont (652), Western Michigan (653), Ball State (656), Northern Iowa (659), Southern Illinois (659), Omaha (663), Bradley (665), and Valparaiso (704) rounded out the 16 schools in the tournament.
Defending MVC Golfer of the Week Ali Schrock is the top finisher for the Redbirds after the first day with a two-round 155, tied for ninth. Emma Rouger stands tied for 24th with a two-round 159, with Vinisha Gunaseelan carding a 160 while playing as an individual and is tied for 28th. Avalon Woodward's 161 sees her tied for 33rd, just ahead of Kehler Koss' 162, tied for 38th. Maria Toledo Bailey is ISU's fifth golfer for the weekend, and her 168 has her tied for 59th, as Kira Wolf, also playing as an individual, rounds out the Redbirds in the tournament with a two-round 170, tied for 64th.
With birdies few and far in between for the entire field, Schrock opened her day with a seven-over 78, as she had 11 pars and seven bogeys. She followed that with a six-over 77, including her only birdie of the day, while adding 11 more pars for the round as ISU's top finisher on the day.
Rouger opened her day on the first hole with a birdie – one of two for the junior in the opening round – as she also had nine pars and seven over-par scores for her seven-over 78. Her second round saw a birdie and eight pars, closing the day with a 10-over 81 for the final 18 holes.
Gunaseelan opened her day with a seven-over 78, as she had a pair of birdies to go with seven pars. She followed that with an 11-over 82 in the second round, as she added two more birdies and eight pars.
Woodward opened her day with a 10-over 81, as she had 11 pars and seven over-par scores on the round, before coming back for the second 18 holes with a dozen more pars, added to six over-par totals.
Graduate student Koss, who started on the second hole, opened her day with 11 pars and seven bogeys/double bogeys en route to her nine-over 80. She came back in the second round and carded an 11-over 82, which included a birdie and eight pars.
Toledo Bailey had 16 pars on her day, in addition to one birdie, en route to her back-to-back rounds of 84. Wolf, the second of ISU's individuals for the tournament, opened play with a nine-over 80, and followed with a second-round 90, as she had three birdies and 11 pars throughout the 36 holes.
The Redbirds take back to the course tomorrow starting with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. alongside Indiana State and Creighton.
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