ST. GEORGE, Utah - Idaho women's golf is in third after the first two rounds of the BYU at Entrada Classic, led by three Vandals in the top 10 of the individual standings. Valeria Patino fired a career-best 6-under 66 in the opening round, before finishing the 36-hole day at 1-over to tie with teammate Sophie Hausmann for third. Michelle Kim is one stroke off their pace, tied for seventh at 2-over.

Patino's first round included a 10-hole stretch at 7-under, capped by three consecutive birdies and an eagle. She led the Vandals to a 2-under 286 team score in the first round, putting Idaho in first place. Hausmann carded six birdies and five bogeys in her opening round to finish 1-under, while Kim shot even par for the round. It was Idaho's fifth sub-par team round of the year and first of the spring.

"What an awesome first round," said head coach Lisa Johnson. "We played loose and relaxed, made a lot of putts and a ton of birdies. There is a stretch of lava holes where you're playing target golf with a lot of potential for unplayable lies and we played those holes extremely well. I was very pleased with our ball striking and our golf course management decisions."

Hausmann and Kim each carded a 2-over 74 in the second round to lead the Vandals. Patino was unable to find a birdie until the final hole of her second round, finishing with a 79.

"The score makes it look like we played an awful second round," Johnson said. "In reality it was just not making a couple of small adjustments to a little uptick in the wind and then missing a few putts that we made in the first round. I thought we had two solid rounds of golf today."

Freshman Vicky Tsai registered a counting score in each round. Tsai rounded out Idaho's scoring quartet with a 77 in the morning, before shooting a 78 in the afternoon.

The BYU at Entrada Classic concludes Tuesday, with the final round teeing off at 8:30 a.m. MT. Idaho enters the final 18 holes trailing a pair of top-50 teams in Kent State (No. 12) and Texas Tech (No. 45).

"We're looking forward to tomorrow and excited to in the final pairing," Johnson said. "It's fun to be a part of the competition at the top of the leaderboard."

Team Results
3.        Idaho                        591 (15-over; 286-305)

Individual Results
T-3.    Valeria Patino           145 (1-over; 66-79)
T-3.    Sophie Hausmann    145 (1-over; 71-74)
T-7.    Michelle Kim             146 (2-over; 72-74)
52.     Vicky Tsai                  155 (11-over; 77-78)
64.     Laura Gerner             161 (17-over; 80-81)