Gonzaga University
WCC Championship Day 2
WGOLF Climbs During Day Two
4/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Day 2 Results | Championship Central
DANVILLE, Calif.-The Gonzaga University's women's golf squad used a tough day for the rest of the field to climb the West Coast Conference Championships leaderboard Tuesday, moving into third place at Blackhawk Country Club in Danville, Calif.
On a day where nobody in the field shot below par, freshman Jena Gao used a 73 (+1) to climb seven spots up the leaderboard into sixth place. The Shanghai native counted two bogeys and seven pars on the front nine but played the back at one under, birdying hole Nos. 1, 16, and 18 of the 72-par, 5,995-yard course. The round equals her lowest of the spring. After a first-round 75 (+3), Gao's counted 148 strokes (+4) through the tournament's first two rounds. She's just two strokes back of a tie for fourth and three of third place.
Sophomore Dania Uy is second on the Zag roster after shooting 76 (+4) during Tuesday's round, moving back into a tie for seventh after entering the day in sixth place. Uy posted two birdies, two bogeys, and 13 pars on the day; only an eight on the par-4 8th was left uncountered. A native of Anitpolo, the Philippines, Uy has 149 strokes (+5) on the tournament.
Two more Zags are in the Top 10 as both Ciera Min and Bianca Pagdanganan are tied for ninth after both fired 76s (+4) during the second round. Min played both halves at two over, posting two birdies on the front nine and one during the back nine. Pagdanganan also played each group of nine holes at 2-over-par, posting one birdie, three bogeys, and five pars while going out and coming back in Tuesday. The pair have each taken 150 strokes (+6) so far during the tournament.
Gonzaga's fifth player, Raychelle Santos, withdrew from the tournament and did not compete in the second round.
As a team, the Zags counted 301 strokes (+13) on the day, tied for the second-lowest score in the field. They moved past San Francisco for third place with a two-day total of 597 strokes (+21). They're three back of No. 49 Pepperdine, who's in second place; 38th-ranked BYU leads the team competition with 583 strokes (+7). The Cougars' Lea Garner tops the individual leaderboard with a two-day total of 142, two strokes below par.
"I'm proud of how we stayed together and fought today with four players," said Gonzaga head coach Brad Rickel. "Jena had a great finishing stretch with birdies on two of the final three, while Daniella fought hard after a quad to shoot four-over. Ciera, she had trouble driving the ball today but fought really hard to shoot four over, while Bianca is going to see her putts fall tomorrow. That's all she needs."
The Zags will begin the third and final round of the WCC Championships at 9:22 a.m. Wednesday, April 20. They'll tee off on Blackhawk CC's No. 10 tee box.
