May 10, 2007

BATON ROUGE, La. - The Jackson State University women's golf team shot a 329 in the opening round of the NCAA East regional at the University Club in Baton Rouge, La.

The Lady Tigers are in 21st place in the team standings through the first 18 holes. The top eight teams will advance to the NCAA Championship later this month.

"This is a good learning experience for us," said JSU Head Coach Eddie Payton. "We are playing in the nation's premier collegiate golf tournament, against some of the best teams in the nation."

JSU is competing in a field that features more top 25 teams than any other regional in the nation this weekend. The sixth ranked UCLA Bruins lead the field with a 281. No. 20 Wake Forest and Furman follow with 284.

"We have a lot of room for improvement, but we can still attain the goals that we set for ourselves before we got here. I feel pretty good about this team, because we are battling every hole."

Shasta Averyhardt leads JSU with a 79 (seven over par). The junior from Flint, Michigan recorded a birdie on the 15th hole. Averyhardt finished the first round with four bogeys and two double bogeys.

Sophomore Mirielle LeBlanc recorded a 9-over 81. She shot for seven birdies and had a double bogey on the 3rd hole. Junior Nikeya Peay shot a 15-over 87. Freshman Lauren Ragland shot a 10-over 82. She fired four birdies, eight bogeys and two double bogeys.

The second round of the NCAA East regional is set to start at 8 a.m. Friday, May 10. Live stats are available at www.golfstat.com.