Steger In the Lead, CSUN Second at Big West Championship

Tuesday, April 16

Moorpark, Calif.

All Day

California State University at Northridge

Big West Championship

Photo by: Braden Villanueva

Steger In the Lead, CSUN Second at Big West Championship

4/16/2019 5:29:00 PM | Women's Golf

MOORPARK, Calif. - Junior Brianna Steger followed up Monday's career-low round of 69 with one-under 71 on Tuesday and holds a two-shot lead heading into the final round of the 2019 Big West Women's Golf Championship at Moorpark Country Club.

As a team, CSUN posted a second consecutive round of 296 and is in second place, three shots behind Long Beach State.

Steger, who had four birdies in firing her career low 69 in round one, had a pair of birdies and a bogey to finish the front nine in round two at one-under par. She then put together a string of nine consecutive pars on the back nine to finish one-under for the day and four-under for the championship.

Steger led by three strokes after round one and heads into Wednesday's final round with a two-shot lead over Long Beach State's Haley Tygret. Tygret had the low score of all 40 players in round two with a two-under 70. The CSUN junior is bidding for the Matadors' best individual finish at the conference championship since Clariss Guce tied for first in 2014.

As a team, CSUN is also poised for its best team finish at the Big West Championship since finishing second, also in 2014.

With a second consecutive round of 296, CSUN (+16, 592) is just three shots team-leading behind Long Beach State (589). Top-seeded UC Davis sits third after bettering its first round score by six strokes to register 299 for a two round score of 604. One stroke back in fourth is Cal State Fullerton, which is followed by UC Riverside (608), UC Irvine (614) and Cal Poly (617). Hawai'i rounds out the eight-team field with a two-day total of 622.

"I continue to be proud of this group for so many reasons," said head coach Gina Umeck. "I draw a lot of parallels to my National Championship at UCLA. Carrie [Leary] commented that we were out there playing on autopilot. I feel similarly with this group. Winning ways come from within and it's a pretty unstoppable force."

Freshman Kiran Sangha moved into the top-10 Tuesday after carding a one-over 73. Sangha, who opened with a 76 on Monday, had five birdies in round two, three coming on the back nine where she was even for the day. The Matador freshman is currently sixth at five-over 149. Senior Kayla Yn, who began the day tied for eighth, slipped into a tie for 11th at seven-over 151 after a second round of four-over 76. Senior Michelle Duan made it four CSUN players in the top-20 as she is tied for 20th at nine-over 153 after a second round 77. Ashley Phelps rounds out the Matador scoring as she is 37th at 17-over 161 following rounds of 85-76.

The final round of the three-day event tees off Wednesday morning at 7:30 a.m. with No. 7 Cal Poly and No. 8 Hawai'i. The pairing of No. 4 Cal State Fullerton, No. 5 UC Riverside and No. 6 UC Irvine are slated with an 8:20 a.m. tee time, while No. 1 Long Beach State, No. 2 CSUN and No. 3 UC Davis begin at 9:10 am. Live scoring can be found at www.golfstat.com and admission to the event is free.

The winning team advances to the NCAA Division I women's regionals which are held at Saugahatchee Country Club, in Opelika, Alabama; Tumble Creek Golf Club in Cle Elum, Washington; Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in Norman, Oklahoma; and Forest Akers West Golf Course in East Lansing, Michigan, May 6-8. The 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships will be hosted May 17-22 at Blessings Golf Course in Fayetteville, Ark.

Big West Golf Championship
Par 72 • Yardage 6,279

Team Results
1. Long Beach State - 295-294=589
2. CSUN - 296-296=592
3. UC Davis - 305-299=604
4. Cal State Fullerton - 295-310=605
5. UC Riverside - 308-300=608
6. UC Irvine - 307-307=614
7. Cal Poly - 313-304=617
8. Hawai'i - 308-314=622

#GoMatadors