Blythewood, S.C. – Western Carolina fought through a tough second round at the 2026 Southern Conference Women's Golf Championship on Tuesday, seeing a key part of its scoring five withdraw due to injury as the Catamounts slipped to eighth after 36 holes.
 
Fifth-year senior EC Niebauer and sophomore Elsa Maren Steinarsdôttir pace the squad in a tie for 23rd entering Wednesday's final round at the par-72, 6,150-yard Columbia Country Club. Senior leader Sadler Miller was sidelined by injury midway through the second round.
 
Even with great weather conditions just outside the state capital of South Carolina, only three of the nine teams in the field improved upon their first-round scores in Tuesday's second round. The final round is scheduled for Wednesday (April 22) with tee times off the first and 10th tee beginning at 9 a.m.
 
Live scoring of Wednesday's round is available online through the Scoreboard app, powered by Clippd.
 
Aided by Audrey Ryu surging into first place individually after firing a 1-under 71 on Tuesday, defending champion No. 68 Furman (593) extended its lead to 10 strokes over second-place Chattanooga (603) after 36 holes. UNCG (609) remains third overall in the standings, 16 strokes off the pace. Samford (611) leapfrogged ETSU (614) to round out the top five in the standings.
 
Mercer (617) in sixth and Wofford (619) in seventh both climb a spot over the second 18 holes, with WCU (640) and The Citadel (662) rounding out the field.
 
Ryu sits at 3-under par for the tournament and holds a seven shot advantage over the field, with a three-way tie for second at 4-over par between UNCG's Kasey McIlvaine and Eleanor Burnette, and Sophia Gambini of ETSU.
 
Niebauer carded her first two birdies of the event down the stretch on Tuesday, finishing at 7-over par 79 for a two-day total of 156. She is tied with teammate Elsa Maren Steinarsdôttir, who carded rounds of 75 and 81. After four birdies on Monday, Steinarsdôttir carded two on Tuesday to remain second in the tournament field with six through 36 holes.
 
Sophomore Annalee Caveney has a two-day count of 160 (78-82), in 32nd individually after posting nine pars on Tuesday. Her classmate Emily Rosenschein rounded out WCU's scorers, improving by three strokes in the second round at 89 for a two-day total of 181.
 
Catamount senior Sadler Miller had been slowed by an injury entering the championship tournament week. The Clayton, N.C., product heroically fought through the discomfort in the first round, shooting 79 to count among the top four scores. However, after Monday's 18 holes, Miller succumbed to the injury and withdrew midway through Tuesday's round. She remains eligible to compete again in Wednesday's final round.
 
Round two tournament action concludes Wednesday with tee times starting at 9 a.m. WCU's scoring five will open on the back nine beginning at 9:40 a.m.
 
2026 SoCon Women's Golf Championship
Thru Round 2 – Tuesday, April 21
1 - Furman – 289-304 = 593 (+17) 
2 - Chattanooga – 292-311 = 603 (+27) 
T3 - UNCG – 301-310 = 611 (+33) 
T3 - Samford – 306-305 = 611 (+33) 
5 - ETSU – 305-309 = 614 (+38) 
6 - Mercer – 310-307 = 617 (+41) 
7 - Wofford – 314-308 = 622 (+43) 
8 - Western Carolina – 309-331 = 640 (+64) 
9 - The Citadel – 325-337 = 662 (+86)
 
8 – Western Carolina – 309 – 331 = 650 (+64)
T23 – Elsa Maren Steinarsdôttir – 75-81 = 156 (+12)
T23 – EC Niebauer – 77-79 = 156 (+12)
32 – Annalee Caveney – 78-82 = 160 (+16)
39 – Emily Rosenschein – 92-89 = 181 (+37)
 T41 – Sadler Miller – 79-WD