NAU tied for 1st after 2 rounds at Big Sky golf

Published Apr. 22, 2013 6:24 p.m. ET

foxsports

CHANDLER, Ariz. – Led by a one-under par round of 71 by junior Kaitlen Parsons, the Northern Arizona women’s golf time made up nine strokes on Portland State to tie the Vikings atop the leaderboard with a two-day total of 592 heading into the final round at the Big Sky Golf Championship.

The Lumberjacks shot a five-over par 293 on Monday, their third-best Big Sky Championship round all-time, and led by as many as three strokes on the back nine before the Vikings came back to draw even with NAU at the end of the second round. The teams have a seven-stroke lead over Northern Colorado.

“They played great, and I was just really proud of the effort,” NAU head coach Brad Bedortha said. “We didn’t play bad yesterday, but we played much better today, and I’m really excited to continue watching them play. If we compete like that, I can’t complain win or lose.”

NAU’s five golfers did not have a single hole in which they scored worse than a bogey on Monday. Parsons only had one bogey and had two birdies on the front nine as she recorded her 11th career round at even or below par. She moved to even par for the tournament and up to fourth place on the individual leaderboard.

“I was on the putting green a lot yesterday and when I was out there I felt like it did help,” Parsons said. “I’m swinging it well and hopefully I can go lower tomorrow. We had a good day today as a team and hopefully we can carry it over to tomorrow and pull a win.”

Senior Stephanie Kim followed her 74 on Sunday with a one-over par 73 as she moved into a tie for ninth overall at 3-over for the week. Sophomore Darian Spivey was again solid on Monday as she overcame three straight bogeys to end the front nine to finish at 74 for the day and also is tied for ninth, while freshman Savana Bezdicek rebounded from an 84 in the opening round to shoot 75 on Tuesday.

“My tempo was way better (today) and I drank a lot more water,” said Bezdicek, competing in her first Big Sky Championship. “I didn’t know it would be this intense for a team atmosphere because I’ve never had such an intense team competition for golf. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow - it will be interesting.”

Sophomore Susana Mejia rounded out the Lumberjack competitors with a 78, one stroke better than she shot on Sunday as she was even par over her last eight holes. NAU will be playing for its seventh all-time Big Sky Championship and its first since 2009 when it takes to the course, paired with Portland State and Sacramento State, for Tuesday’s final round starting at 8:45 a.m.

“We’ve been close a few times but just haven’t been able to close the deal, so I’m just hoping we can do that tomorrow,” Bedortha said. “I just want us to go play our best golf and if it’s good enough, it’s good enough.”