CALLAWASSIE ISLAND, S.C. – With four golfers among the top 12 on the individual leaderboard, Xavier holds first place after two rounds of the BIG EAST Women’s Golf Championship Presented by Jeep at the Callawassie Island Golf Club.  The Musketeers, with a team score of 604 (+28), have a seven-stroke advantage in the team standings ahead of second-place Georgetown at 611-(+35) and third-place Seton Hall at 614 (+38).

Creighton is in fourth place at 642 (+31) followed by St. John’s at 648 (+72) and Butler at 664 (+88).
The third and final round starts Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.  The team winner of the BIG EAST Championship receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.  Xavier will be aiming for its first BIG EAST women’s golf crown.

Individually, Xavier’s Mikayla Fitzpatrick and Seton Hall’s Lizzie Win, a pair of juniors, were atop the leaderboard most of the day.  Fitzpatrick pulled away with three birdies in the final six holes to shoot a 4-under par 68 – the lowest round of the day – and take the lead with a two-day total of 143, one under par.  Win shot a 73 for a two-round total of 147 (+3).

Xavier senior Mikayla Smith shot a 74 and is tied for sixth at 153 (+9).  Her teammates, sophomore Andie Shukow and graduate student Lyndsey Hunnell are tied for ninth at 155.  Shukow carded a 78 today and Hunnell had 80. 

Georgetown, the two-time defending BIG EAST champion, was led by senior Pendleton Bogache, who is in third place with a 6-over-par 150.  She shot a 74 in the second round.  Senior Ashley Fitzgibbons is a stroke back at 151 (75-76) and tied with senior teammate Christina Parsells (79-72).  Last year, Parsells finished in a tie for second with Bogache and Fitzgibbons tying for ninth.

After Win, Seton Hall has junior Carolina Ronchel in eighth place at 10-over-par 154.  She shot 75 in the second round.  Junior Maddie Sager is in a four-way tie for ninth at 155 (+11).  She shot 75 in the second round.  In last year’s Championship, Win finished in a tie for fourth place.

Creighton’s Katie Allen has been the top freshman performer in the Championship thus far.  She shot a 75 in the second round to be 9-over-par 153 and in sixth place. 

Lauren Tibbets, the 2017 BIG EAST individual champion, shot a 74 in the second round to move up into the tie for ninth at 11-over-par 155. 

The top St. John’s golfer in the standings is Alejandra Sanchez with a 16-over-par 160 (78-82).

The BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN) will provide coverage of the final round on www.bigeast.com.  Additional information on the championship courses is available at www.callawassieisland.com.