LUBBOCK, Texas – Only three strokes separate No. 23 Texas Tech from topping a pair of top-10 teams as the Red Raider women’s golf program will enter Sunday’s final round of the Mountain View Collegiate in third place following a 4-under-par 284 card Saturday.
The Red Raiders, who shot a program-record 17-under 271 to start the event Friday, trail No. 2 Oklahoma State by only a stoke and our three back of tournament leader San Jose State, the No. 7-ranked team in the latest Golfweek poll. San Jose State utilized a 13-under 275 second round to take team lead, while Oklahoma State posted the low card of the day at a combined 15-under 273.
Texas Tech will be paired with both the Spartans and Cowboys when the final round tees off with a 10 a.m. CT shotgun start Sunday morning. The three schools have built a significant lead over the rest of the field as No. 17 Texas A&M is in fourth place at 11-under, while No. 12 Arkansas rounds out the top five at 10-under for the tournament.
Similar to Friday’s performance, birdies continued to fall for the Red Raiders over the second round as Texas Tech sank 20, including 12 combined from Gala Dumez and Chiara Horder. The Red Raiders’ 45 birdies through two rounds are tied with San Jose State for the most among the 16-team field.
Dumez and Horder both signed for 4-under 68 cards to power the Red Raiders with only three bogeys between the pair. Amy Taylor chipped in an even-par 72 round of her own to push her into the top-10 individuals with Dumez as she is now in a tie for ninth at 4-under for the tournament. The strong round, meanwhile, pushed Horder to 2-under overall and in a tie for 24th place.
Dumez remains in contention for her first medalist honor of the season and the second of her career as she is now 7-under over 36 holes, only two strokes back of individual leaders Han-Hsuan Yu of Oklahoma State, Kajal Mistry of Arkansas and Natasha Oon of San Jose State. Dumez is tie for fourth overall alongside Oklahoma State’s Maddison Hinson-Tolchard and San Jose State’s Lucia Lopez-Ortega.
Anna Dong entered the day as the individual leader after posting a career-low 7-under 65 card Friday. She followed with a 4-over 76 second round that dropped her to 3-under for the tournament and into a tie for 15th overall. Libby Fleming wrapped the Texas Tech lineup with a 6-over card, while Kylee Loewe, playing as an individual this week, added a 2-over round of her own.
In addition to chasing a tournament title, Texas Tech can potentially snap the program’s 54-hole scoring record with another strong round Sunday as the Red Raiders, who are at 24-under 555 thus far, need to shoot 2-under or better to at least match the 841 mark that was set this past September at the Sam Golden Invitational.
Live scoring of Sunday’s final round can be found at BirdieFire.com.
