Hilton Head Island, S.C. – Sophomore Brie Mapanao carded a second-round score of 1-under par 71 to climb seven positions in Monday's second round to sit in a two-way tie for fourth place, just three strokes off the medalist honors after 36 holes at the 2024 Southern Conference Women's Golf Championship. The final round is scheduled for Tuesday morning at the par-72, 6,036-yard South course at the Moss Creek Golf Club with play in threesomes commencing at 8:30 a.m.
 
Western Carolina slid into fifth place behind hard-charging Mercer, which climbed three positions on Monday after matching the low team round of the day.
 
Mapanao parred 15 of Monday's 18 holes including eight on the back nine in a nearly clean scoresheet in the SoCon second round. She has carded 27 pars over the opening 36 holes to rank third in the field.
 
Opening on the front nine, the Australian-born striker was even through six holes before moving to 1-under par with a birdie on the par-3 seventh. The lone blemish of her second round came with a bogey on the par-4 eighth to move her back to even-par where she made the turn. Mapanao closed Monday's round with a 1-under par back nine, birdying the par-3 17th to shoot 71.
 
Junior Elizabeth Lohbauer advanced two spots in the individual order with a second-round 4-over par 76 for a two-day total of 153. The Venice, Fla., product countered five bogeys with one birdie, shooting 2-over par on both the front and back nine. Redshirt junior Kayleigh Baker enters Tuesday's final round in a three-way tie for 22nd after shooting 78 on Monday for a 36-hole score of 154. Baker posted her fourth birdie of the event in the second round.
 
Mapano and Baker tied for fourth in par 3 scoring at 1-under par (2.88).
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five are sophomore Sadler Miller in 32nd with a score of 158 and fifth-year senior Victoria Ladd tied for 35th at 162. Miller closed Monday's round by shooting even-par on the back nine with a day total of 80, while Ladd carded her team-leading fifth birdie.
 
First-round leader ETSU lengthened its advantage over second-place Furman in Monday's second round as the Buccaneers carry a 10-stroke lead, 589-599, into Tuesday's final round. Samford is third, a stroke in arrears of the Paladins at 600 with Mercer in fourth after climbing three spots in the standings with a two-round total of 609. WCU (610) is one stroke back in fifth place with Chattanooga (612) two strokes back in sixth place. UNCG (613), Wofford (624), and The Citadel (676) round out the nine-team championship field.
 
ETSU's Sophie Bert and Bailey Dunstan of Samford supplanted Furman's Anna Morgan atop the individual leaderboard by a stroke. Bert and Dunstan sit at even-par 144 while the first-round leader, Morgan, has a two-round tally of 145. WCU's Mapanao and Lilli Horn of Wofford round out the top five in the standings, just three strokes off the leading pace.
 
Tournament play concludes on Tuesday with both the team champion and individual medalist crowned and the SoCon's automatic bids to the NCAA postseason awarded. Complete results will be available after play concludes each round through SoConSports.com and CatamountSports.com.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's golf and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountWGolf).
 
 
5 – Western Carolina – 305 – 305 = 610 (+34)
T4 – Brie Mapanao – 76 – 71 = 147 (+3)
T15 – Elizabeth Lohbauer – 77 – 76 = 153 (+9)
T22 – Kayleigh Baker – 76 – 78 = 154 (+10)
32 – Sadler Miller – 78 – 80 = 158 (+14)
35 – Victoria Ladd – 76 – 86 = 162 (+18)