Humacao, P.R. – Four of Western Carolina's scoring five improved upon their tournament-opening rounds in Wednesday's second round as the Catamounts posted a season-best 18-hole team score, advancing to seventh entering Thursday's final round at the Puerto Rico Iguana Invitational.
 
Sophomore Elsa Maren Steinarsdôttir carded her best round of the year with a 1-under par 71 to climb onto the podium with 18 holes remaining at the par-72, 6,161-yard Flamboyan Course at the Palmas Del Mar Golf Club. Steinarsdôttir moved into a three-way tie for third with one round to play.
 
The final round is scheduled for Thursday, March 5, with a 7 am AT / 8 am ET shotgun start. Paired with golfers from Tarleton State and individual entrants from Ball State and Central Arkansas, the Catamounts hit the course again on the back nine between holes No. 13 and 18, with hole No. 15 vacant.
 
Live scoring of Thursday's final round is available online through the Scoreboard app, powered by Clippd.
 
Steinarsdôttir posted four birdies on Wednesday to advance in the standings. She started her second round with a birdie on the par-4 14th before being relegated back to even-par with a bogey three holes later. The Akranes, Iceland, product played the front nine at 2-under par with birdies on the par-5 third and par-4 ninth.
 
A double-bogey on the 381-yard, par-4 11th moved her back to even-par. Steinarsdôttir charted a fourth birdie on her 36th hole of the event, sinking a long putt for the 1-under round of 71 and a two-day total of 145.
 
Steinarsdôttir ranks tied for fourth in the tournament field with a team-best seven birdies, and is tied for first in par-5 scoring at 4-under (4.50) and tied for ninth in par-4 scoring (+2, 4.10).
 
Senior Sadler Miller climbed two spots in the standings, shooting three strokes better in round two with a 3-over par 75 to move into a four-way tie for 22nd. The Clayton, N.C., product countered six bogeys with her third birdie and the squad's second eagle of the tournament, carding a three on the 485-yard, par-5 third.
 
Along with Steinarsdôttir on Tuesday and Miller on Wednesday, only four eagles have been posted in tournament play this week.
 
Graduate transfer EC Niebauer knocked 10 strokes off her second-round score to advance eight spots into a tie for 34th overall with a two-round score of 156. She countered a trio of bogeys with two birdies to give her three this week. Rounding out WCU's scoring five are sophomore Annalee Caveney in a tie for 37th with a 36-hole score of 157, and classmate Emily Rosenschein in 45th at 173, trimming seven strokes off her second-round total.
 
Niebauer continues to rank among the tournament leaders in par-3 scoring at even-par (3.00) on the shortest layouts. Caveney is tied for seventh with 23 pars through her opening 36 tournament holes, carding a pair of birdies on Tuesday.
 
Georgia State has an eight-stroke edge over second-place Central Arkansas through 36 holes, 584-to-592, after the Panthers cobbled together a 3-under par team round of 285 on Wednesday. Arkansas State and tournament host Ball State are tied for third at 594, with Arkansas – Little Rock in fifth with a two-day score of 600. Tulane (610) is sixth, a stroke ahead of WCU (611), with Tarleton State (613) rounding out the field.
 
Riding consecutive rounds of 1-under par 71, Alethea Paige Gaccion of Central Arkansas carries a two-stroke lead over TK Kongthong from Georgia State, 142-to-144, into Thursday's final round.
 
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7 – Western Carolina – 313 – 298 = 611
T3 - Elsa Maren Steinarsdôttir – 74-71 = 145 (+1)
T22 – Sadler Miller – 78-75 = 153 (+9)
T34 – EC Niebauer – 83-73 = 156 (+12)
T37 -  Annalee Caveney – 78-79 = 157 (+13)
45 – Emily Rosenschein – 90-83 = 173 (+29)