Cincinnati, Ohio – With three golfers inside the top 10 and its scoring five solidly inside the Top 20, Western Carolina women's golf sits in second-place after 36 holes at the season-opening Jennifer Duke Invitational at the par-71, 6,075-yard Losantiville Country Club. Western Carolina led the tournament after the opening 18 holes on Monday morning.

Catamount redshirt sophomore Kayleigh Baker and true freshman Brie Mapanao are both amongst a four-way tie for sixth-place with matching scores of 150, with sophomore Elizabeth Lohbauer in a four-way tie for 10th overall.
 
Baker opened the season with a 5-over par round of 76 before trimming two strokes off her second 18 holes, carding three birdies against four bogeys and one double-bogey to shoot 74. She has a team-best four birdies through 36 holes. In her collegiate debut, Mapanao charted 25 birdies to sit in a tie for sixth with a score of 150 that includes the team's best opening-day score of 2-over par 73 in the first round.
 
Lohbauer sits tied with the most pars over the first 36 holes with 27, carding rounds of 75 and 76 for the 9-over par 151.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five are seniors Victoria Ladd and Madison Isaacson, tied for 16th with matching scores of 155. The two both carded 21 pars apiece on Monday.
 
Playing unattached as an individual, sophomore Kaitlyn Wingnean is tied for 27th overall with a two-round score of 157 (79-78), carding three birdies in the second round.
 
Posting a tournament-best 115 pars on Monday, WCU trails tournament-leader Western Kentucky by just six strokes, 604-to-598, with 18 holes remaining. Xavier is in third, nine strokes in arrears of the Catamounts with Coastal Carolina (614) and Marshall (615) rounding out the top five.
 
Sophia Carlsen of Coastal Carolina holds a one-stroke lead over Xavier's Emma McMyler, 146-to-147, after 36 holes. Four WKU golfers hold the next four positions in the standings, leading the Hilltoppers to the top of the leaderboard.
 
The final round is scheduled for Tuesday morning with live scoring available online at GolfStat.com.
 
2 – Western Carolina – 301 – 303 = 604 (+19)
T6 – Kayleigh Baker – 76 – 74 = 150 (+8)
T6 – Brie Mapanao – 73 – 77 = 150 (+8)
T10 – Elizabeth Lohbauer – 75 – 76 = 151 (+9)
T16 – Victoria Ladd – 79 – 76 = 155 (+13)
T16 – Madison Isaacson – 77 – 78 = 155 (+13)
T27 – Kaitlyn Wingnean (ind.) – 79 – 78 = 157 (+15)