March 7, 2008

LUBBOCK, Texas - Ulrika van Niekirk tied the second-lowest score in school history as she carded an opening-round 68, helping place Texas Tech in first place after one round at the Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational in Rio Verde, Ariz., Friday. The junior from Cape Town, South Africa, is atop the leaderboard following the first round and is three strokes ahead of four players tied in second place.

Texas Tech's Stephanie Smith and Rosalyn Kim contributed to the team total 291 with a pair of 74s, placing both in 13th-place ties. Alex Gibson is tied in 21st place after firing a 75 and Robyn Scott is perched in a tie for 32nd with a 77. Megan Dowdy carded a 9-over 81.

Van Niekirk leads Katie Brophy (Notre Dame), Mallory Fraiche (UALR), Stacey Miller (Illinois State) and Sophia Choi (Northern Arizona) by three strokes as the group is tied in second place. The five are the only golfers to shoot under-par rounds on the day.

The Lady Raiders lead the tournament by three strokes over Notre Dame, which shot a 294. UALR (298) is third, while Minnesota and Illinois State are tied in fourth place with a pair of 300s. Western Michinan (305), Toledo and Northern Arizona are tied in seventh place and Ball State rounds out the top 10 with a 307.

Wisconsin (308), Bradley (309), Missouri State (311), Cincinnati (311), Bowling Green State (316), Southern Illinois (318), Xavier (320) and Ohio University (328) round out the field.

The three-day event gets underway Saturday morning at 8 a.m. The final round will be played Sunday.