The Gophers traveled to West Lafayette, Ind. this weekend already knowing a couple of things, the course that hosted the tournament will also be the host of the 2009 Big Ten Championships and the school hosting is pretty good. The course referenced is the 6,297 yard par 72 Kampen Course located at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex and the team is the Purdue Boilermakers.

Purdue, the defending Big Ten Champions, leads the Lady Northern after 36 holes by nine strokes over Notre Dame and 11 strokes over Michigan State. The Gophers are tied for 12th with Illinois. Purdue's Junthima Gulyanamitta leads the battle for medalist honors by two strokes over her teammate Maude-Aimee LeBlanc and Annie Brophy of Notre Dame.

The story of the day for the Gophers was the play of sophomore Teresa Puga. Puga, a native of A Coruna, Spain, finished the first day of competition in a four-way tie for fifth place after rounds of 75 (+3) and 74 (+2).

Puga made the turn during the morning session at 2-over and was 4-over after 13 holes but she finished strong with pars on holes 14-16 and 18 to go along with a birdie on the par 3 17th for her 75. She has been playing consistent golf all fall season with top-10 finishes in two of the team's three tournaments and it continued during the afternoon session. 

Puga recorded pars on the first eight holes before taking a bogey on the par 4 ninth for a 1-over 37and carded birdies on holes 10and 15, pared holes 11, 14, 16 and 18 but bogeyed holes 12, 13 and 17 for her afternoon total of 74.

The third and final round of the 2008 Lady Northern will start at 10 a.m. Central and can be followed live on www.golfstat.com.