HUMBLE, Texas — Daniela Abonce is in 15th place and UTSA is 12th after the opening day of the Chevron Collegiate, which teed off Monday at the Golf Club of Houston (par 72/6,203 yards).
Abonce is part of a seven-way tie for 15th at 4-under par through 36 holes of the 54-hole tournament. The junior from Mexico opened the day with an even-par 72 and followed that with a 68 in the afternoon.
Starting on the 15th hole in the morning, Abonce bounced back from a trio of bogeys over her first seven holes with birdies on the 470-yard, par-5 fourth and the 145-yard, par-3 seventh. She tacked on a pair of birdies on the 12th and 14th holes to counter a bogey on No. 13 en route to the even-par round.
In the second round, Abonce birdied her second hole — the 158-yard, par-3 16th — and also circled her number on the 350-yard, par-4 first hole to get to 2-under par for the day. The reigning American Athletic Conference medalist then moved to 4-under for the week with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 10-11 in her bogey-free round, notching her 10th career sub-70 scorecard in the process.
Abonce is only two shots out a tie for sixth place that includes the nation’s top-ranked individual, Maria Jose Marin of Arkansas. Texas A&M’s Vanessa Borovilos, who is ranked 68th nationally, has the day-one lead at 10-under 134 (67-67).
Lauren Rios also boasts a red number on the leaderboard, as the Coppell, Texas, native sits at 1-under par 143, good for a share of 31st. She started her week with a season-best 1-under 71 that featured five birdies, including three in a row in Nos. 11-13 that helped her log the second-best score of her UTSA career. She turned in a 72 in the afternoon on the strength of four more birdies, including back-to-back on the 12th and 13th holes.
Morgan Ellison and Olivia Williams are part of a tie for 45th at 1-over 145.
Ellison, a senior from Georgia, carded the low opening round for the Roadrunners with a 2-under 70 that was headlined by five birdies, including three straight on Nos. 15-17, before settling for a 75 in the afternoon.
Williams, a junior from England, posted a 1-under 71 in round two behind four birdies, a three-shot improvement from her opening 74.
Maria Bastarrica rounds out the UTSA lineup in 78th (74-79—153).
The Roadrunners are in 12th place at 3-under 573 after recording rounds of 1-under 287 and 2-under 286, which marked their second-best team score of the season. UTSA is 15 strokes ahead of a deadlock for 13th between Texas Tech and Texas State, with Indiana (592) and Iowa (599) closing out the team standings. The Roadrunners are only one shot behind Illinois and North Texas (-4) and just two strokes back of No. 33 Iowa State in the event that includes seven top-50 teams.
No. 17 Texas A&M has the 36-hole lead at 23-under par, followed by 16th-ranked TCU (-19), Maryland (-16), top-ranked Arkansas (-12) and No. 12 Mississippi State (-12) in the top five.
The final round is slated for an 8 a.m. shotgun start on Tuesday.
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