The Illinois Springfield women's golf team is firmly in contention after the opening 36 holes of the Dan Salisbury Memorial Collegiate Invitational at Piper Glen Golf Club. The Prairie Stars sit second in the seven-team field, six strokes behind leader McKendree, and five strokes clear of Maryville in third. UIS posted team rounds of 313 and 321 for a two-round total of 634

Elaine Grant leads the way for UIS, carding two rounds of 74 to finish four-over par for the day. She enters Tuesday's final round in second place individually, just one stroke behind McKendree's Alba Camps.

Grant briefly fell to fourth midway through the afternoon but steadied her round to climb back into contention. She also leads the tournament field with 24 pars and ranks third in birdies with five.

Lia Rody held a spot inside the top ten for much of the day before running into trouble on her closing nine, where five bogeys and two doubles pushed her into a tie for 12th at +19 (76, 87).

Valentina Torrealba finished at +19 with rounds of 81 and 82.
Ira Joshi closed at +21 after shooting 82 in the morning and 83 in the afternoon.

Yi-Ting Hsieh improved in the second round, bouncing back from an 87 to post an 82.

Fizreen Ahmadfadzir, competing as an individual, shot 96 and 94.

Statistically, UIS is setting the pace on par-4 holes, leading the field with a 4.51 average. The Stars also rank first in total pars (91) and second in birdies (15).

The Prairie Stars return to the course Tuesday chasing down McKendree for the team title while fending off Maryville and Drury for a podium finish. Live scoring is available throughout the tournament on Clippd.