The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s golf team tumbled down the leaderboard during Thursday’s morning session of the NCAA Central Regional.
But the Mocs climbed without playing a stroke in the afternoon as their morning score turned out to be in the top third of the 24-team field.
They shot a 15-over-par 303 and are in eighth place – the cut line to advance to the NCAA championship tournament – after their first round at Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Ind.
UCLA leads the tournament at 291, and LSU at 295 and Notre Dame at 298 are second and third. UTC is one shot behind Duke, Stanford and Northwestern, after playing one shot better than Kent State and three better than Texas and Ohio State.
Junior Maria Juliana Loza led the Mocs with a 1-over 73 that included one birdie and two bogeys. She is tied for 11th place in the medalist race.