April 23, 2011

Photo Gallery (Saturday, April 23)

2011 Women's Big Ten Championships - Round Three
Result: Northwestern in fourth place with a 37-over 901 (308-293-300)
Site: Lake Shore Country Club (Par 72, 6,303 yards) • Glencoe, Ill.
Top NU Performer: Lauren Weaver 1-over 217 (71-77-69) is in third place
Up Next: Big Ten Championships • Sunday, April 24 (final round) • 8 a.m. CT
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com
Twitter: NU_SportsLive
Northwestern Big Ten Championships Site | Big Ten Women's Golf Site

WATCH: Day Two Highlights | Day Two Post-Round Interviews

2011 Big Ten Women's Golf Championships (Third Round Results)

GLENCOE, Ill. -- Only two golfers in this year's Big Ten Women's Golf Championships have scored lower than 70 for a single round, and both of those players wear the purple and white of Northwestern. On Saturday, sophomore Lauren Weaver (Scottsdale, Ariz./Cactus Shadows) fired a three-under 69 to pace the Wildcats and keep her hopes alive of winning a Big Ten championship.

Following Saturday's best third-round score of the day, Weaver is just one stroke behind third-round co-leaders Numa Gulyanamitta of Purdue and Caroline Powers of Michigan State, who are both at even par for the tournament. Weaver is 1-over (71-77-69=217) after three rounds and is a serious contender for the individual title given her history on this course. Last fall, Weaver set a program record with a 6-under 66 en route to winning the Lady Northern individual title.

Weaver's teammate, junior Alex Lederhausen (Hinsdale, Ill./Central), shot a 4-under 68 in Friday's second round, and after posting a 5-over 77 on Saturday, she is in fourth place, but six strokes off the lead. Lederhausen is six-over (77-68-77=222) for the tournament.

In the team race for the 30th Big Ten women's golf championship, no school was able to separate itself from the field, which should provide plenty of dramatics in Sunday's final round, which gets underway at 8 a.m. 19th-ranked Michigan State is clinging to a two-stroke lead over three-time defending Big Ten champion Purdue, who is ranked fourth nationally. Ohio State, ranked 31st, is in third place, nine strokes back of the Spartans and the host Wildcats, ranked 38th, are one shot behind the Buckeyes and 10 behind the third-round leading Spartans. Wisconsin is fifth, 13 strokes off the lead.

"It should be a terrific final round of golf on Sunday," said NU head coach Emily Fletcher. "Both Lauren and Alex have proven they can put together outstanding rounds. I'm excited to see how our team responds tomorrow."

With Weaver and Lederhausen holding down third and fourth place in the individual standings, Northwestern has a third player in the top 10 - freshman Devon Brown (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Cathedral Catholic), who is tied for ninth place with a 10-over 226 (80-70-76). Her second-round 70 gives NU four rounds of under-par golf for the tournament, the most for any Big Ten squad.

Northwestern's Kelsey Lindenschmidt (West Chester, Ohio/Ursuline), Anne Ormson (Granger, Ind./St. Joseph's) and Rebecca Lederhausen (Hinsdale, Ill./Central) are 46th, 52nd and 60th place, respectively, after the first three rounds. Lindenschmidt carded a 6-over 78 on Saturday to lead the lower half of NU's six-player lineup.

Weaver's third round began with a bogey on the opening par-4 hole. Following the first hole, however, Weaver played tremendous golf, recording birdies on holes 6, 8, 11 and 13 - all par-4 holes - and then a birdie on the par-5 No. 16. Weaver's only hiccup in her final 17 holes was a bogey on the par-4 No. 12.

Weaver, along with MSU's Williams and Purdue's Gulyanamitta, all led the tournament at one point on Saturday. Williams overcame a quadruple bogey on hole number-two - a par-3 - with a 3-under 33 on the back nine to catch Gulyanamitta for a share of the lead through three rounds.

Live scoring for the 30th Big Ten Women's Golf Championships is available at Golfstat.com.

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