Montana shoots 302, in 2nd place in Spokane

The Montana women's golf team shot a 302 on Sunday afternoon, leaving the Grizzlies in second place out of four teams at the two-day, 36-hole Tri-State Invitational in Spokane.

Montana is behind Idaho (290) and ahead of Eastern Washington (303) and Idaho State (310) at The Creek at Qualchan Golf Course.

Kendall Hayward shot a 1-over 73, Elle Higgins a 2-over 74. Hayward is tied for fifth, Higgins is tied for eighth.

Bella Johnson shot a 76 and is tied for 11th, Kate Bogenschutz carded a 79 to round out Montana's scoring players.

"We got it going in the middle after a shaky start, jumped up and took the lead, then had some things happen," said coach Jimmy Mee.

"Maybe a break didn't go our way and we probably dwelled on it longer than we should have and let it turn into some bigger things in other areas."

Hayward, who was coming off a 72 at the Eagle Invitational in her last competitive round, had the Grizzlies' best start on Sunday, birdieing three of the first six holes. She parred 10 of her final 12 holes.

"Her short game was good and she made some putts that were key to sustaining her momentum," said Mee.

"She was just solid. She hits it so well. If she can make those key par putts, she'll pretty much put up those scores all year."

Higgins carded a 3-over 7 on No. 2 and ended her day with a 2-over 7 on the closing hole, the par-5 18th. She played the holes in between at 3-under.

"At the start we were rattled a little bit and got into the woe-is-me phase, but everybody did a really good job of battling back and playing some really good golf," said Mee.

"We can't dwell on our mistakes and let them be more than they are. That's the next step in our development. We have to do a better job of remembering that we're getting some good breaks as well."

Hannah Ports shot a 79, Kylie Franklin an 80, Raina Ports an 81 and Madison Cecil an 89.

Gonzaga's Darby Rickel, competing as an individual, holds the 18-hole lead after carding a 2-under 70. Idaho's Emma Kang shot a 1-under 71.

The tournament will conclude with 18 holes on Monday.

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Kate Bogenschutz

Madison Cecil

Kylie Franklin

Kendall Hayward

Elle Higgins

Bella Johnson

Hannah Ports

Raina Ports

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