Cats Claw Back With Second-Best Round of the Day at Big Sky Championship
4/16/2024 3:14:00 PM | Women's Golf
Montana State shoots 292 to move up to fourth ahead of Wednesday’s final round in Arizona
LITCHFIELD PARK, Ariz. -- Montana State head coach Brittany Basye referred to Tuesday at the 2024 Big Sky Championship as "moving day," knowing that a lot would be decided over the second round of 18 holes at The Wigwam in Litchfield Park, Arizona.
Led by a 2-under par round of 69 from sophomore Lauren Greeny, the Cats did their part, moving their way up the leaderboard into the top-four ahead of Wednesday's final stretch by carding an 8-over 292.
The Bobcats left the course on Monday tied for sixth, but proceeded to shoot their ninth-best round of the year to climb their way into fourth and put themselves in steady position going into the final round. MSU's round of 292 was the second-best among the ten-team field on Tuesday.
Greeny, a sophomore from Pullman, Washington, picked up right where she left off from Monday. After carding birdies on two of her final four holes yesterday, Greeny carded three more birdies over the first four holes on Tuesday—a stretch of five birdies in eight holes across two days.
The sophomore is tied for eighth individually after the round of 69 on Tuesday, checking in at 1-over par through 36 holes.
Scarlet Weidig, a redshirt junior from Belen Heredia, Costa Rica, shot a 1-over 72 to match what she carded on Monday. Weidig is tied for tenth individually at 2-over par.
Hannah Boraas, a freshman from Alexandria, Minnesota, was the Cats' second scorer on Monday (73) and their third scorer on Tuesday (75), continuing her best stretch of the season.
"Today was moving day and we did that," Basye said. "Greeny's 69 was great, Scarlet barreled to stay one-over and Hannah hung in there. Tomorrow, we need to keep battling and give it our best. We can beat this course and we are excited for one last opportunity."
Sacramento State extended their lead over the rest of the field with a 2-under par 282, improving to 4-under par at 564. Weber State (+14) and Northern Arizona (+18) sit directly ahead of Montana State (+19), but both are within five strokes.
The Cats lead the Montana Grizzlies (+20) by one stroke entering Wednesday. The higher finisher between the two rivals earns a crucial Brawl of the Wild point. To add more drama, Montana State will play in the same group as Montana on Wednesday, with golfers from Northern Colorado rounding out the threesome.
Montana State finished second at last season's Big Sky Championship, their highest finish since winning the Big Sky Championship in 1995. After Tuesday's results, a return to the podium for the Cats is certainly within reach—a potential first in program history to finish in the top two at conference in consecutive seasons.
Montana State will get the final round underway with Maddie Montoya teeing off at 8:10 a.m. PT/9:10 a.m. MT, with Eva Heinz (8:20 a.m. PT), Boraas (8:30 a.m. PT), Weidig (8:40 a.m. PT), and Greeny (8:50 a.m. PT) to close out the group.
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