LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Pepperdine women's golf team had a strong first day at The Show at Spanish Trail and stands in third place after playing 36 holes on Monday.
 
The Waves shot 573 (293-280) at the par-72 Spanish Trail Country Club, posting the best round of any team with the 280 in the second half of the day.  Pepperdine was in sixth after the first round, but moved up three spots after the second, overtaking New Mexico by one shot, Nevada by three shots and Denver by eight shots.
 
Pepperdine will head into the third and final round three shots away from UNLV in second and four away from #6 Mississippi State in the lead.  Three Waves are in the top-12, led by Lion Higo who is tied for fourth.
 
PLAYER SCORES

• Junior Lion Higo (Gold Coast, Australia) is tied for fourth at 141 (71-70).  She went 3-under overall with two birdies in the first round and four in the second.  She only had three bogeys throughout the day.
• Freshman Yingzhi Zhu (Nanjing, China) is tied for 9^th after going 2-under 142 (73-69).  She bounced back after posting two birdies in the morning to have four in the afternoon, shooting 3-under in the second round for a career-best 69.
• Freshman Jeneath Wong (Melbourne, Australia) is tied for 11^th with a 143.  She went 3-over in the first round for a 75, but rallied in the second half of the day, going 4-under for a career-high 68 with four birdies.  Overall, she is 1-under heading into the third round.
• Sophomore Lauren Gomez (Murrieta, Calif.) is tied for 27^th after shooting a 147 (74-73) through two rounds.  She had three birdies on the day, with two in the second round.
• Junior Kaleiya Romero (San Jose, Calif.) is tied for 65^th after posting a 153 (80-73) through two rounds.  She rebounded from her first round to mark seven birdies. 
• Senior Reese Guzman (Kahului, Hawai'i) is also competing as an individual and is tied for 49^th after posting a 150 (75-75).  She had four birdies, including three in the first round.

UP NEXT
Pepperdine will be paired with UNLV and Mississippi State for the third and final round.  It will be a shotgun start on holes one through three at 1 p.m. PT.
 
THE NUMBERS
Team Standings: 1. Mississippi State 569; 2. UNLV 570; 3. Pepperdine 573; 4. New Mexico 574; 5. Nevada 576; 6. Denver 581; 7. Old Dominion 589; 8. Texas State 591; 9. Purdue 593; 10. South Florida 594; 11. Kent State 595; 12. Furman 601; 13. Charlotte 603; T14. Washington State 605; T14. North Florida 605.
 
Individual Leaders: T1. Anna Zanusso (Denver) 138; T1. Myah McDonald (New Mexico) 138; 3. Nicole Lorup (UNLV) 140; T4. Lion Higo (Pepperdine) 141; T4. Veronica Joels (UNLV) 141; T4. Hannah Levi (Mississippi State) 141; T4. Christin Eisenbeiss (UNF) 141; T4. Isabell Pellot (Mississippi State) 141; T9. Yingzhi Zhu (Pepperdine) 142; T9. Toa Yokoyama (UNLV) 142.