BREMERTON, Wash. – Junior
Lion Higo impressed after firing off an 8-under 64 in the second round of the West Coast Conference Championships on Friday, helping propel herself and the #17 Pepperdine women's golf team into first-place after two rounds.
Higo's career-low score was a course record for the par-72, 6,164-yard Olympic Course at Gold Mountain and is the best round of golf played in any WCC Championship round in Pepperdine women's golf program history. The 8-under also ties for third in the Pepperdine record books for lowest 18-hole score and has only been charted twice before – Katherine Hull (2002) and Momoka Kobori (2019). The program record stands at 9-under, which was achieved twice in program history – Katherine Hull (2003) and Grace Na (2011).
As a team, the Waves shot a 5-under 283 in the round to move up from second to first-place heading into the third and final round tomorrow. The squad has a 6-stroke lead over BYU and a 13-stroke lead over Santa Clara. The 3-under after 36-holes ranks eighth in the Pepperdine record books and is only one-shy of the team record for 36-holes at a WCC Championships, which is 4-under.
Three Waves are in the top-five. In addition to Higo with a 5-stroke lead for first,
Kaleiya Romero shot even par in the round, which puts her 2-under overall and in second, and
Reese Guzman is 1-over to tie for fifth.
PLAYER SCORES
- Junior Lion Higo (Gold Coast, Australia) has a two-round score of 137 (73-67) for first. She has marked 13-birdies throughout the tournament thus far, including nine in the second round alone.
- Junior Kaleiya Romero (San Jose, Calif.) is in second with a score of 142 (70-72). She has produced nine birdies, including five in the second round today.
- Senior Reese Guzman (Kahului, Hawai'i) is tied for fifth with a 145 (72-73). She has tallied three birdies in each round.
- Sophomore Lauren Gomez (Murrieta, Calif.) is in 22nd with a score of 152 (78-74). She posted three birdies in each round.
- Freshman Yingzhi Zhu (Nanjing, China) is in 23rd with a 154 (75-79) and has put up five birdies throughout the tournament thus far.
UP NEXT
The Waves will be paired with BYU and Santa Clara for the final round, beginning on the first hole at 8:20 a.m.
THE NUMBERS
Team Standings: 1. Pepperdine 573; 2. BYU 579; 3. Santa Clara 586; T4. Gonzaga 590; T4. San Francisco 590.
Individual Leaders: 1. Lion Higo (Pepperdine) 137;
2. Kaleiya Romero (Pepperdine) 142; T3. Riana Mission (USF) 143; T3. Lila Galeai (BYU) 143;
T5. Reese Guzman (Pepperdine) 145; T5. Rachael Wang (Santa Clara) 145.
