Athens, Ga. – Western Carolina women's golf fired an opening-round 321 on Saturday, closing the day in 14th at the highly competitive 54th annual Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, hosted by Georgia at the par-72, 6,217-yard UGA Golf Course. Sophomore Elsa Maren Steinarsdôttir leads the Catamount scoring five amidst a 10-way tie for 48th overall with a first-round score of 6-over par, 78.

Tournament action resumes on Sunday morning with tee times off both the front and back nine, beginning at 8:30 a.m. and 8:32 a.m., respectively. WCU's scoring five is paired with golfers from Rutgers and Jacksonville State, and will open on the front nine between 10 a.m. and 10:36 a.m.
 
Live scoring for each round is available online through the Scoreboard app, powered by Clippd.
 
Steinarsdôttir battled through the front nine, countering four bogeys and a triple-bogey on the par-3 third with her first of two birdies of the round on the par-3 eighth to make the turn at 6-over par. The Akranes, Iceland, product then settled to post five-straight pars before a bogey on the par-4, 371-yard 15th. She closed her open 18 holes with her second birdie, shooting even-par on the back nine for the 6-over, 78.
 
Senior Sadler Miller is a stroke back with a first-round, 7-over par 79. The Clayton, N.C., native fired even-par on 11 of her opening 18 holes, with seven bogeys on Saturday, tied with five others for 58th. Graduate transfer EC Niebauer is an additional stroke back after an opening 8-over par 80. Niebauer carded a pair of birdies on Saturday and was tied for seventh in par-3 scoring, shooting even (3.00) on the shortest layouts.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five are sophomores Annalee Caveney, in a tie for 76th with an 84, and Emily Rosenschein, tied for 85th with a first-round score of 88. Rosenschein had a team-best three birdies over the opening 18 holes.
 
High Point leads the 16-team field by three strokes over the tournament host Georgia, 290 to 293, after the opening round. Rutgers is third, five strokes off the pace at 295, and five strokes clear of fourth-place Western Kentucky (300). South Alabama shot 301 to round out the top five teams. The field includes a three-way tie for sixth between Alabama, James, Madison, and No. 42 Indiana, with a two-way tie between Florida Gulf Coast and Kennesaw State at 305, rounding out the top 10.
 
Georgia's Trinity Beth holds a two-stroke lead over Anna Howerton of High Point through 18 holes, with Beth carding a first-round 66 and Howerton firing a 68. Individual competitors Molly McLean is third with a first-round 69, just ahead of a two-way tie for fourth to round out the individual top five.
 
Tournament action continues with round two on Sunday, with morning tee times off both the first and 10th tees.
 
14 – Western Carolina – 321 (+33)
T48 – Elsa Maren Steinarsdôttir – 78 (+6)
T58 – Sadler Miller – 79 (+7)
T64 – EC Niebauer – 80 (+8)
T76 – Annalee Caveney – 84 (+12)
T85 – Emily Rosenschein – 88 (+16)