USC
2011 NCAA Championships
No. 1 Troy Facing Steep Climb At NCAA Championships
May 19, 2011 | Women's Golf
May 19, 2011
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Senior Lizette Salas's 1-over 73 highlighted a second straight tough outing for No. 1 USC, which finds itself with a lot of work to do after the second round of the 2011 NCAA Women's Golf Championships at Texas A&M's Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas on Thursday (May 19).
USC carded a combined 14-over 302 for the second day in a row for a two-day 28-over 604. The Trojans were paired with Alabama and UCLA, the other two 2011 NCAA Regional winners. While the No. 3 Crimson Tide is also saddled with a 28-over, providing highly ranked company for the Trojans' misery in a tie for 15th, the Bruins are in first at 8-over 584.
"It's a strange feeling. We're always in the thick of it," USC 15th-year head coach Andrea Gaston said. "It's frustrating. But everyone's trying and no one is giving up. Sometimes, it just doesn't happen even if you are trying.
"We've got two more days and we can redeem ourselves. Conditions are tough. The course is definitely hard and everyone will run into problems. But there is plenty of golf left to get back into this thing."
The Trojans, playing without top junior Lisa McCloskey (ranked No. 6 in the country), who is out with a rib injury, are riding a streak of four straight top four finishes at the NCAAs and have nine top 7 results since 1998. USC has also finished in the 3 of 12 straight events.
Salas has been USC's steadiest performer thus far and is 4-over 148 (75-73) through 36 holes, tied for 26th. Starting on the 10th hole, she opened her round with a bogey and finished her first nine holes at 1-over. She was par on the back half of her round for a 1-over round, one of the better results in the field Thursday.
Freshman Rachel Morris is tied for 49th at 7-over 151 (75-76). She opened her round with seven pars before a bogey on the 17th. That started a string of four bogeys over six holes but she finished with five more straight pars. Sophomore Cyna Rodriguez is 9-over 153 (76-77), tied for 70th. She opened with birdies on two of her first four holes but she also finished with seven bogeys.
Junior Inah Park (76-78) and freshman Sophia Popov (78-76) are back at 10-over 154, tied for 77th. Park was wobbly at the start, going 6-over after seven hole, but she finished the back 9 at par thanks to consecutive birdies on 6, 7 and 8. Popov's rare struggles continued, beginning with a triple bogey to begin the round on 10. She was only 1-over for the remaining 17 holes, but couldn't generate the type of momentum that has enabled her to build a streak of eight straight top 7 finishes.
Third-round action continues Friday, beginning at 8 a.m.
Players Mentioned
