HUMBLE, Texas — Lauren Rios posted a pair of 1-over-par scorecards to pace UTSA on the opening day of the Chevron Collegiate, which teed off Monday at the Golf Club of Houston (par 72/6,203 yards).
Rios carded a 73 in both rounds to settle into a tie for 41st with 18 holes left to play on Tuesday. The Coppell, Texas, native is one of 11 golfers sitting at 2-over 146, two shots out of the top 25.
Rios opened the event with a round that featured a pair of birdies, a three on the 350-yard first and a two on the 155-yard 16th. She circled four numbers in the afternoon 18, recording a three on the 356-yard 18th before making birdie three of the four par fives, the 470-yard fourth, the 522-yard eighth and the 478-yard 13th.
Daniela Abonce is three shots behind her teammate in a tie for 56th at 5-over 149. The senior from Veracruz, Mexico, bounced back from a 77 in the morning with an even-par 72 in the afternoon on the strength of birdies on the fourth and 18th holes.
Maria Bastarrica has a share of 69th after turning in rounds of 74 and 78 behind four total birdies on the day.
Kayla Black is tied for 80th (83-72—155) and Victoria Schuldt is 88th (80-79—159) to round out the UTSA lineup.
The Roadrunners are in 16th place in the team standings after registering a 599 (304-295) through 36 holes. UTSA is three shots ahead of American Conference foe North Texas and only four strokes behind Maryland in the field that includes 10 nationally ranked teams.
No. 16 North Carolina (561) leads the team race ahead of No. 20 Baylor (566). No. 3 Oregon and 31st-ranked SMU are tied for third (568) and No. 6 Arkansas (575) closes out the top five.
Oregon’s Kiara Romero, the fourth-ranked player in the nation, has the individual lead at 8-under 136 (66-70).
The final round is set to begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Live scoring will be provided online at scoreboard.clippd.com. Live video coverage will be provided by babygrandegolf.com.
-UTSA-