The Gopher women’s Golf team counted a pair of 71’s a 74 and a 75 en route to a blistering 3-over par 291Saturday in the second of the Rio Verde Invitational at Rio Verde Country Club. The nine-stroke improvement over an opening round 300 moved the Gophers into second place and put them in position to be a Sunday threat. The round of 291 is tied for second all-time in the Gophers record book for lowest 18-hole round and is the lowest score posted by the Gophers since they fired a 297 at the Minnesota Invitational in 1997.

The aforementioned 71’s were carded by freshman Teresa Puga (A Caruna, Spain) and junior Young Na Lee (Tamuning, Guam), both career highs. Freshman Mary Narsizi (Omaha, Neb.) followed up her career-best opening round 73 with a 74 while sophomore Christine Herzog (Detroit Lakes, Minn.) posted a 75, seven strokes better than her opening round score of 82. Individually, Puga is in a tie for sixth place while Lee and Narsizi are in a tie for 10th place.

Notre Dame bettered Minnesota by one stroke Saturday and holds a seven stroke lead with a score of 8-over 584. The Gophers hold a six stroke lead over third place Texas Tech and an 11 stroke lead over fourth place Arkansas-Little Rock. The Red Raiders held the lead after Friday’s opening round.

Notre Dame’s So-Hyun Park holds the individual lead after shooting a 2-under 70. She leads by one stroke over Mallory Fraiche of Arkansas-Little Rock and two strokes over Laura Bavaird of Western Michigan, Katie Brophy of Notre Dame and opening round leader Ulrika Van Niekerk of Texas Tech.

The third and final round of the Rio Verde Invitational gets under way on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. (CST).