Middle Tennessee tied for seventh after two rounds at Lady Jaguar

AUGUSTA, Ga. - After a first round 20-over 308, the Middle Tennessee women's golf team responded with an eight-over 296 in the second to move into a tie for seventh (out of 17) at the Lady Jaguar Intercollegiate at Forest Hills Golf Club (Par 72, 5963 yards) in Augusta, Ga.

"I'm really proud of the way we came back in the second round today," head coach Chris Adams said. "We putted better and eliminated the mistakes and the big numbers. The greens here are pretty tough, and I think we improved our course management as the day wore on. Our improvement in the second round was very encouraging."

The Blue Raiders are tied with fellow Sun Belt member UALR. The two schools are trailing host Augusta State by 22 strokes, but are just three strokes off of climbing into the top five.

Morgan Hale leads all Blue Raiders after carding an even-par 72 to sit tied for 10th (of 90) at three-over. Karisa Akin also posted an even-par 72 in the second round and is tied for 18th at five-over.

"Well, you don't have to hit the ball perfectly to score on this course," Adams said. "I think Morgan is a real testament to that. She struggled with her driver a bit today, but she really managed the greens well and made some big putts. I'm proud of the way both her and Karisa hung in there even if they weren't putting up great drives today."

Ashley Haggard rebounded a bit from her last outing at Kiawah, carding a four-over 76 and a three-over 75. The sophomore is currently tied for 28th at seven-over.

Olivia Love is tied for 52nd at 13-over and Steph Gough sits tied for 74th at 18-over.

Middle Tennessee will play in the third and final round of the Lady Jaguar Intercollegiate on Wednesday. Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com.

TEAM SCORES (of 17)
1. Augusta State - 289-293=582 (+6)
2. Purdue - 290-294=584 (+8)
3. UTSA - 296-295=591 (+15)
4. Coastal Carolina - 298-297=595 (+19)
5. Southern Methodist - 299-302=601 (+25)
6. Southern Miss - 302-301=603 (+27)
T7. Middle Tennessee - 308-296=604 (+28)
T7. UALR - 298-306=604 (+28)

MT SCORES (of 90)
T10. Morgan Hale - 75-72=147 (+3)
T18. Karisa Akin - 77-72=149 (+5)
T28. Ashley Haggard - 77-76=151 (+7)
T52. Olivia Love - 80-77=157 (+13)
T74. Steph Gough - 81-81=162 (+18)

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