Johnson leads Montana on Day 2

Montana's Bella Johnson scorched the back nine on Tuesday, playing the final nine holes at Wigwam Golf Club better than anyone but the overall leader on her way to a 72 on Day 2 of the tournament in Litchfield Park, Ariz.

Johnson shot a 3-under 32 on the back nine, with three birdies and six pars, with good looks on 17 and 18 that could have had her even lower. Northern Arizona's Nina Lukyanenko, the Championship's leader at 4-under, also shot 32 for the back nine on Tuesday.

Johnson was 4-over at the turn before tearing through the final nine holes. Her 1-over 72 bumped her into the top 20 in the overall standings. Johnson, who opened with a 75 on the par-71 course on Monday, will be in 19th place when Wednesday's final round begins.

"She got off to a rough start, then did a good job of turning it around, which was awesome to see," said coach Jimmy Mee. "She had a good looks on the last couple holes that would have made it even more special."

Montana shot a team score of 305 on Monday, then followed that up with a 304 on Tuesday. The Grizzlies are tied for ninth in the 10-team field with Eastern Washington (310-299).

Five of Montana's double-bogeys on Tuesday came on the back nine. "We were missing in the wrong spots. There were a couple trickier pins that you really couldn't miss," said Mee. "We had some people get in the wrong spots and it starts to add up quick."

Raina Ports, even through 10 holes, shot 74, Katie Lewis shot 77, Kate Bogenschutz shot 81, Hannah Ports shot 82.

Lewis (76-77) is tied for 33rd, Raina Ports (80-74) is tied for 37th, Bogenschutz (74-81) is tied for 42nd, Hannah Ports (80-82) is tied for 49th in the 50-golfer field.

There will almost certainly be a new winner this week, with three-time defending champion Sacramento State (287-302) in fourth, two dozen strokes off the lead of Northern Arizona (282-283).

Northern Colorado (284-286) is five strokes behind the Lumberjacks. Montana State (284-299) is in third.

Lukyanenko (68-70) holds a two-stroke lead over Northern Colorado's Jaci Hartman (73-67). Four golfers are under par through 36 holes, two more are at even par.

"The message tomorrow will be to just go freewheel it. Have some fun," said Mee. "We've had some girls do it for stretches. Now we have to get four people doing it at the same time. Relax, be aggressive, go have fun and see what can happen."

University of Montana Athletics

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Kate Bogenschutz

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