McDonald, Lady Bulldogs Targeting Second-Consecutive Top 5 Finish

Columbia, Mo. - As the sun set over the Club at Old Hawthorne in Columbia, Mo., the Mississippi State women's golf team found itself just six shots back of a second-consecutive Top 5 finish to begin the season.

MSU opened with a 12-over-par 300 during Monday's opening round and followed with a 308 during the second round. The two-round 608 is one stroke better than the Lady Bulldogs 609 tally from the 2008 Johnie Imes Invitational when it posted a fourth-place card.

Ally McDonald posted a 1-over-par 145 to open the event. The standout sophomore struggled to overcome seven bogeys on the day. She recovered to birdie three of her last four holes and climb into a share of seventh-place individually. McDonald is just two shots shy of her second-consecutive Top 5 finish and third in her last five events.

Fellow sophomore Rica Tse notched a 7-over-par 151 card that is strong enough for a spot in the Top 25. Freshman Gabi Oubre' stormed out of the gates with a strong showing in the first round for the second-straight tournament. The Mobile native used her opening-round 74 to post a 10-over-par 154 on the day.

Logan Chaney and Mary Langdon Gallagher rounded out the Lady Bulldogs' leaderboard with a 162 and 168, respectively.

No. 38 SMU used a tournament-best 284 in the second round to overtake the top spot in the tournament. SEC-foe and host-Missouri finished the day in third-place at 18-over.

Whitney Pyle of Kansas State posted an impressive 68 and 69 on the day and owns the top spot of the individual board.

Final-round action begins with an 8 a.m. shotgun Tuesday. Live stats will be available through HailState.com. Fans can also follow the women's golf program on Twitter @mstateWG and on Facebook at facebook.com/mstateWG.

Johnie Imes Invitational
Second Round - October 1, 2012

TEAM RESULTS
1. No. 38 SMU (297-284=581, +5); 2. Kansas State (296-291=587, +11); 3. Missouri (300-294=594, +18); 4. No. 29 Indiana (301-295=596, +20); 5. Louisville (301-301=602, +26); 6. Iowa (302-301=603, +27); 7. UALR (307-297=604, +28); 8. FIU (302-303=605, +29); T9. Mississippi State (300-308=608, +32); T9. Illinois State (302-306=608, +32); 11. Eastern Michigan (301-309=610, +34); T12. Missouri State (309-314=623, +47); T12. Oklahoma City (316-307=623, +47); T12. UMKC (314-309=623, +47); 15. Colorado State (315-311=626, +50); 16. Bradley (318-309=627, +51); 17. Wichita State (317-324=641, +65);18. Redlands CC (332-310=642, +66); 19. Montana (323-322=645, +69).

MSU INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
T7.      Ally McDonald          74-71=145, +1
T23.    Rica Tse                      74-77=151, +7
T43.    Gabi Oubre'                74-80=154, +10
T71.    Logan Chaney             78-84=162, +18
T91.    Mary L. Gallagher      88-80=168, +24