March 21, 2009

AUSTIN, Texas – South Carolina junior Benedicte Toumpsin improved by five shots from her first-round performance at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational at the University of Texas Golf Club, shooting an even-par 72 on Saturday. The Gamecocks moved up two spots to 14th place with a 311 (+23) in the second round of competition.

Toumpsin, who tied for the tournament title last weekend at the LSU Classic, was 5-over after yesterday’s first round. Thanks to her even-par round Saturday that had two birdies and two bogeys, she stays at 5-over through two rounds, moving up to a tie for 23rd place.

Freshman Katie Burnett, who had the Gamecocks’ best round on Friday, shot a 6-over 78 on Saturday to drop from a tie for 24th to a tie for 34th through two rounds. Burnett stands at 8-over on the weekend.

Arizona State and Purdue are tied for the team lead heading into Sunday’s final round of play; both teams are 2-over through two rounds. Arkansas is in third place, four shots back at 6-over.

Purdue’s Maria Hernandez sits atop the individual leaderboard at 5-under-par after a 3-under 69 to go along with her 70 from Friday. Arkansas’ Lucy Nunn is one shot back at 4-under, and another Boilermaker, Maude-Aimee LeBlanc is at 3-under.

All 18 teams will begin the final round of play at 8:45 a.m. Central time Sunday with a shotgun start. South Carolina’s players are slated to tee off from holes 13, 14 and 15. Live results can be obtained through golfstat.com.

CAROLINA RESULTS – SECOND ROUND
T23. Benedicte Toumpsin – 77-72=149 (+5)
T34. Katie Burnett – 74-78=152 (+8)
T52. Meredith Taylor – 76-80=156 (+12)
87. Taylor Barrett – 86-81=167 (+23)
WD – Cayci Ruppe