By
Kyle Faraday
Arizona Daily Wildcat
The UA women's golf team increased its lead over No. 1 Duke to four strokes yesterday at the second round of play in the Wildcat Invitational, Arizona's lone home golf tournament.
The Wildcats managed a team score of 290 for the second round, three strokes better than the second-place Blue Devils.
After the first two rounds of play at The Raven at Sabino Springs golf course, Arizona has a 583 total score, good for seven-over par.
"Duke is staying right there with us, and it should make for an interesting day," sophomore Laura Myerscough said. "Each team is playing really solid in the one through three slots, which makes it that much more important for the four and five players to step up their games."
Rounding out the top five teams after yesterday's round were Texas (592, +16), Southern California (594, +18) and Stanford (599, +23).
Leading the way again for the Wildcats was freshman Lorena Ochoa, who posted a second-round score of 71 (-1), good for sole possession of second place.
Ochoa sits just one stroke off the lead, which is held by Duke's Candy Hanneman. The Blue Devils' Virada Nirapathpongporn, who led after the first round, is four strokes off the lead with the final round starting today.
UA freshman Natalie Gulbis also did her part to keep Arizona ahead of the field, shooting a 72 (even). The freshman is tied for third place.
Junior Ann Lee helped to pace the Wildcats with her second round of 74 (+2). Lee's 147 total after two days leaves her in a tie for ninth place.
Also scoring for the Wildcats was junior Cristina Baena (151, +7) and a Myerscough (152, +8).
"We're four strokes ahead, so it's even more important to keep our concentration," Baena said. "We can't concentrate on what Duke or anybody else is doing. If we take care of our games individually, the lead will take care of itself."
The Wildcats will attempt to continue riding the freshman combination of Ochoa and Gulbis, who have been forced to step up in the absence of injured teammate Julia Kraschinski. Kraschinski, last year's second-highest finisher, has been experiencing chronic back problems since the fall season.
It has become apparent, however, that Arizona and Duke are the cream of the crop in a field that features seven teams currently ranked in the top 10 nationally.
While the Blue Devils are currently ranked No. 1, Arizona can lay claim to being the defending national champions. Both schools will battle for the lead in today's final round. Play begins at 8 a.m.
