NEED TO KNOW:
Piedmont Leader: T-4th: Erin Donovan
As a Team: 22nd of 34
Event Information: 34 teams; 176 golfers
The Course: Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert, CA (Par 72, 5873)

PALM DESERT, CA - The Piedmont University women's golf team trimmed six strokes off its team score but couldn't climb high enough on the team leaderboard finishing 22nd of the 34 teams after the second round of the NCAA National Tournament earlier Wednesday.  

Though the team sees its event come to a close with the round, veteran Erin Donovan will continue on as an individual in the event. 

The format of the NCAA Tournament features a field cut to the top 15 teams and top six individuals not on those teams after 36 holes. 

That's exactly where Donovan finds herself as the highest of the six individual qualifiers as her even-par 2nd round has her 2-under for the tourney and tied for 4th in the field.  

Donovan's teammates saw some strong improvement from round one as youngster Lila Polakowski shot up 16 spots by posting a 2nd round 78.  Polakowski posted par on five straight holes twice inlcuding the 13th which only saw one player birdie the hole in round two.

Addison Maney climbed five spots in the individual rankings as one of two Lions to rise on the leaderboard on day two shooting an 82 with three birdies to her card.

Zoe Shuttlesworth stayed steady shooting an 86 for the second day in a row with the highlight coming for her on the par-5 6th where her four helped her to birdie the hole that forced the second-highest number of par scores on the day at 55.

Finishing with the second best two-day showing was Keegan Goins who shot 81 in round two, just two shots off her first round score, shooting even par over the final four holes of the front nine.  

On Thursday, Donovan will continue to chase the tourney individual leader, Toral Bhatt of Washington & Lee who also finished even par on the day like Donovan. 

The W&L rookie Bhatt leads the field at 3-under through two rounds now, but the leaderboard is getting crowded at the top and her advantage is now shared.  Jiayi (Yoyo) Fu of NYU propeled up 17 spots going 4-under on the day after a 1-over round yesterday.  

With the NYU product tied with Bhatt, it's a 3-way traffic jam at #1 as Trinity's (TX) Jessica Mason had another good day going 1-under to sit at 3-under with the other two leaders.

Though the three-way tie at 1st puts Donovan at 4th, the Lion lurks just one stroke behind and in fantastic position heading into moving day at the NCAA's out on the West Coast.  

To track her California dreamin' run at a national title, fans are invited to return to the live scoring site that was used the first two rounds of competition.  

LIONS ON THE LEADERBOARD:
T-4th: Erin Donovan, 70-72 (-2)
T-100th: Keegan Goins, 79-81 (+16)
T-112th: Lila Polakowski, 84-78 (+18)
T-135th: Addison Maney, 86-82 (+24)
T-146th: Zoe Shuttlesworth, 86-86 (+28)

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
- Lila Polakowski had a big day shaving 6 strokes off her first round score to finish with a team-2nd best 78 in round two. 
- Erin Donovan finished her day even par for the round keeping her 2-under for the tourney and staying within striking distance of the tourney lead.
- Keegan Goins was steady as they come finishing with an 81 in round two, just two strokes off her first round score. 

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