Lansing Sun

The Michigan State women's golf team delivered an impressive performance in the second round of the NCAA East Lansing Regional, shooting a 4-under-par 284 at Forest Akers West. This achievement moved them to fourth place in the 12-team field. The top five teams from this three-day, 54-hole event will progress to the NCAA Championships.

MSU's score was four strokes better than any other team on Tuesday and tied for their second-best single round in an NCAA Regional. Overall, MSU is at 1-under-par with a total score of 575 (291-284) for the tournament. The Spartans made a strong finish on the back nine, collecting six birdies and an eagle among their final six holes.

"That was a lot better," commented MSU head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll after moving from sixth to fourth place on the leaderboard. "I felt a little bit better walking off the 18th green (today). I can always sense that we can play better."

Top-seeded USC leads with a score of 6-under-par 570 (281-289), followed by Northwestern and Pepperdine. Florida holds fifth place, three shots ahead of Denver.

USC's Bailey Shoemaker remains first on the individual leaderboard at 8-under 136 after setting a course record with a previous round of 65. Notre Dame's Lauren Beaudreau follows closely behind.

Senior Leila Raines led MSU with her best round of the season, scoring a 4-under 68, tying for fifth place individually. "It went really well for me today," said Raines, who is now at 3-under through two rounds.

Junior Brooke Biermann also shot under par with a score of 71 and is tied for 12th place overall. Junior Katie Lu finished positively with two straight birdies and is tied for 20th place. Sophomore Paula Balanzategui contributed an even-par score for MSU’s fourth counting score of the day.

"We're just going to play like Spartans tomorrow and do the best we can," said Slobodnik-Stoll as they aim to qualify for their second consecutive NCAA Championships appearance.

The third round will commence at Forest Akers West Course on Wednesday morning.