Bears' best rounds of spring highlight first-day effort at UALR

By JORDAN FREEMYER
UNCBears.com

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- The Northern Colorado women's golf team shot its two best rounds of the spring season Monday, on the first day of the UALR Women's Golf Classic at Diamante Country Club.

The Bears sit in 16th place on the team leaderboard with a score of 621 (+45) after opening with a first-round 308 (+20) followed by a 313 (+25) in round two.

"I'm not too concerned about where we stand on the leaderboard -- there's a lot of really good teams in this field," Northern Colorado coach Brandon White said.

Oral Roberts is among them and leads the team scoring after the first day with a 596 (+20). The Golden Eagles' Crystal Reeves is the top individual with a 1-under-par 143.

Northern Colorado junior Carleigh Silvers and senior Ali Nelson each shot 1-over 73s in the second round to lead the Bears. Silvers finished the second round tied for 17th with a two-round score of 149 (+5).

Nelson is just two shots behind, having shot a 6-over 78 in the tournament's opening round.

"Carleigh Silvers and Ali Nelson did a great job again today," White said. "Carleigh has done that all year, and Ali has, too, in these last few tournaments."

Senior Chelsea Silvers is tied for 71st, with a two-round score of 159 (+15). She shot a 7-over 79 in the first round followed by a second round of 80 (+8).

Junior Libby Avery is in a tie for 84th, with an 18-over 162 in her first tournament of the spring. Junior Hannah McNeley rounded out the Bears' effort with a pair of 82s (+10) to put her in 94th.

"I think we finally made some strides forward in some of our goals for the spring," White said. "I think we did a good job of getting better today and getting closer to our goal, which is [winning] a Big Sky championship at the end of the year."

The tournament wraps up with a single round tomorrow.