Women's Golf in Fifth at Mary Fossum

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The University of Miami women’s golf team is in fifth place Saturday through 36 holes of the Mary Fossum Invitational at Forest Akers West Golf Course.

At 31-over 607, Miami is four shots behind fourth-place Texas State (300-303=603). Purdue owns an eight-stroke lead over the 16-team field at 2-over 578, while host Michigan State is second at 10-over 586. Notre Dame is in third at 12-over 588.

“We started pretty well in the morning round,” head coach Patti Rizzo said. “The second round we slowed down a little bit, but we’re going to look at moving up a spot (Sunday).”

UM freshman Laura Hendee sits tied for ninth place after firing a 4-over 148. The Tampa, Fla., native recorded her best rounds of the season, tallying matching rounds of 74. Assistant coach John Koskinen was an Academic All-American at Michigan State and knows the Forest Akers Golf Course very well.

“Coach (John) Koskinen really helped during the practice round,” Hendee said. “He helped me with green-reading techniques, course management and strategy which made a huge difference in my rounds today.”

Fellow freshman Lauren Riehle is tied for 22nd after shooting a 7-over 151. Sophomores Rika Park and Leticia Ras-Anderica are both tied for 30th overall, carding rounds of 76-78=154 and 75-79=154, respectively. Christina Ocampo shot 20-over 160 and is tied for 61st through 36 holes.

The final round of the Mary Fossum Invitational will tee off Sunday at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com and follow the official Twitter feed for Miami Hurricanes women’s golf, @HurricanesGolf, for live in-round updates.