March 8, 2008

BYRON, Texas - The No. 22 Michigan State women's golf team leads the field at the "Mo"Morial Tournament, after a darkness-shortened first day of action at the Traditions Club in Bryon, Texas. With the initial 18-holes postponed on Friday, the golfers were scheduled for 36 holes today, but everyone's round was halted late in their back-nines. The Spartans, who are currently at 44-over, are four strokes ahead of No. 17 Denver, 11 better than Tulsa and 12 shots in front of the host No. 23 Texas A&M.

"The conditions today were extremely tough, turning an already hard golf course, into an even more challenging one," said head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll. "There are many talented and highly ranked teams here and you can tell by the scores across the board, that today was a true test for the golfers. Sarah Brown's second round today is shaping up to be truly special, given the conditions and pin placements. We need to improve upon a couple things tomorrow and hopefully hold on for the win."

The Spartans begin the day, shooting a 25-over 313 in the opening round to hold a one shot lead over Denver. Midway through their back nine's in the second round, MSU is currently 19-over.

Senior Sara Brown overcame an atypical first round, where she had no birdies en route to a six-over 78, to make up ground on her competitors and sit in second place, only one stroke behind Laurence Herman of Iowa State. Through 15 holes of her second round, Brown is one-under, having birdied the 10th and 11th holes.

Freshman Aimee Neff, who was second after the first 18 holes, firing a two-over 74, struggled in the afternoon, currently 11-over in her second round through 15 holes. Despite that, she is tied for ninth overall and has totaled four birdies, three of which came in her first 18.

Sophomore Laura Kueny and senior Jordyn Wells, also enter tomorrow's action in the top-25. Kueny sits in a tie for 19th at 15-over par. She began the day with an eight-over 80 and is currently seven-over through 14 holes in the second round. Meanwhile, Wells is tied for 24th, one stroke behind Kueny at 16-over. After an opening round nine-over 81, she is seven-over through 12 holes in the second round.

Rounding out the starting five for the Spartans is freshman Michelle Bowles. Bowles is in a tie for 29th at 17-over par, playing better in her second round after a difficult 11-over 83 in her initial 18. In second round action, Bowles is currently six-over through 13 holes. Competing as individuals for Michigan State is junior Holly Niederkohr, who is tied for 31st at 18-over, and redshirt sophomore Jen Domagalski , who is tied for 58th at 26-over.

The "Mo"Morial field of 15 schools, includes three programs, in addition to MSU, which are ranked in the GolfWorld top-25 - No. 17 Denver, No. 18 Kent State and the No. 23 Aggies - and nine of the top-50 teams in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. On the individual side, 13 of the nation's top-100 golfers are currently in action in Byron.

The second round will be finished Sunday morning, beginning at 9 p.m. ET, with the final round immediately following.