Spartanburg, S.C. – Western Carolina sophomore Brie Mapanao catapulted 19 positions in Monday's second round on the strength of a career-low score of 6-under par 66 to lead the Catamounts into third place after two rounds at the fall-concluding Wofford Intercollegiate at the par-72, 6,056-yard Carolina Country Club. WCU advanced from a fourth-place tie after the first round onto the preliminary podium with 18 holes to play on Tuesday.
 
Mapanao was tied for 21st with a 4-over par 76 after 18 holes to lead the Catamounts into a tie for fourth after the first round. She then posted four consecutive birdies through her first five holes of Monday's second round, adding a fifth birdie to play the first 13 holes at 5-under par. After the lone blemish of the round with a bogey on the par-3, 160-yard 15th, Mapanao carded two additional birdies to give her seven in the round for the career-low, 6-under par 66 and a two-round score of 142.
 
Mapanao is six strokes in arrears of 36-hole leader Constanca Mendonca of Winthrop who posted rounds of 66 and 70 for a two-round total of 136. Tennessee Tech's Gittle Sciolis is in third at even-par 144 with 18 holes remaining.
 
Southern Conference foe Samford (593) leads the 14-team field after two rounds, carrying a one-stroke lead over second-place Elon (594) and a five-stroke edge over WCU (598) into Tuesday's final round that opens with tee times off the front and back starting at 8:15 a.m. USC Upstate (605) and Winthrop (609) round out the team top five.
 
Behind Mapanao, WCU fifth-year senior Victoria Ladd sits in a four-way tie for 15th with a two-round score of 151, with redshirt junior Kayleigh Baker tied for 19th a stroke back at 152. Ladd posted five birdies over the tournament's first 36 holes including three in the first round with a 4-over par 76. The Greensboro, N.C., native knocked one stroke off her second round, countering four bogeys with two birdies. Baker climbed six spots by cutting two strokes off her first-round 77 with a 3-over par 75, charting five birdies over Monday's two rounds.
 
Rounding out the Catamount scoring five is junior Elizabeth Lohbauer in a tie for 24th at 153 with classmate Kaitlyn Wingnean up 10 spots into a tie for 55th overall with a score of 163. Lohbauer carded her lone birdie of the opening round on the 18th hole for a 7-over par 79, carding four birdies against four bogeys and one double-bogey for a second-round 2-over par 74. Wingnean – a late addition to WCU's scoring lineup – bounced back from a first-round 86 to shoot a 5-over par 77 with a trio of birdies in round two.
 
Combined, WCU carded 28 total birdies to rank third in the field, adding the fourth-most pars with 96.
 
Originally scheduled to play as WCU's fifth in the scoring five, Sadler Miller was a late scratch from WCU's lineup due to a morning illness. Playing unattached, she responded by posting a first-round 1-over par 73 followed by a second-round 79 for a 36-hole score of 152, tied with Baker for 19th.
 
Amidst the final pairing of Tuesday's round, matched with golfers from Samford and Elon, the Catamount scoring five hits the course with tee times off the front nine beginning at 9:45 a.m. Live scoring through GolfStat is available through a link at CatamountSports.com.
 
3 – Western Carolina – 308 – 290 = 598 (+22)
2 – Brie Mapanao – 76-66 = 142 (-2)
T15 – Victoria Ladd – 76-75 = 151 (+7)
T19 – Kayleigh Baker – 77-75 = 152 (+8)
T24 – Elizabeth Lohbauer – 79-74 = 153 (+9)
T55 – Kaitlyn Wingnean – 86-77 = 163 (+19)
T19 – Sadler Miller (ind.) – 73-79 = 152 (+8)