Senior Airielle Dawson picked up on the seventh hole in the second round of the 54-hole event and couldn't finish because of an injury, leaving the Tigers with just four golfers to contribute to the team score. And although there was improvement over the first round scores, the absence of Dawson, who carded an 81 yesterday, leaves Towson very shorthanded.
"Airielle will not play tomorrow," said Tiger coach Kate Stepanek. "There's no way to sugar coat the situation. Unless our mentality changes and we stop settling for last place, it's going to be a long day. Right now our goal is to hold on to what we have and not lose any more ground."
The Tigers are in 20th place with a 17-shot advantage over last place Quinnipiac. Longwood continues to lead the field of 21 teams with an 11 stroke edge over St. Leo.
Dawson's withdrawl put junior Chelsea Harris in charge of the Tigers. Harris carded a 38 on the front nine to finish with an 84 that ties her low round for 2011-12. That's a 12 stroke improvement over her opening 96. She is tied for 91st.
Sophomore Carley Stenger and freshman Francesa Ruscio also posted improved scores with a 90 and a 91 respectively. Collectively they shot 11 strokes better than yesterday.
Freshman Victoria Frasco, playing just her second round of golf since last summer, came in with a 113 score.
"Victoria struggled getting her driver over some of the carries," Stepanek said, "but her irons and wedges were improved."
The Tigers conclude play tomorrow with the final 18 holes. Towson fans can follow the Tigers on Live Scoring.
The highlights of Monday's play were the holes-in-one by William & Mary's Kristen Hamel and St. Leo's Ragna Olafsdottir. Hamel aced the 177-yard 2nd hole and Olafsdottir knocked it in from 157 yards on the 5th hole.
