April 28, 2007

Nashport, Ohio-- The Northern Illinois women's golf team showed a marked improvement from opening day action, as the Huskies shaved nine strokes off their second round score and currently sit in sixth-place at the Mid-American Conference Championships after Saturday's third-round at the Longaberger Golf Club [par 72, 6,149 yards].

NIU's Kim Hunley (Aurora, Ill.) continues to lead the Huskie pack as the freshman sits tied for 11th overall with a 237, following her third-round tally of 77.

"Kim Hunley has been our light at the end of the tunnel," NIU head coach Pam Tyska said. "She played a really solid round and is staying away from the big numbers. I'm really proud of her."

Huskie junior Abbie Many (Mount Prospect, Ill.) is tied for 17th overall with a 243, following her third-round score of 81. NIU senior Lisa Bailey (Decatur, Ill.) is in 33rd with a 258, while sophomore Anne Senn (Mount Prospect, Ill.) sits in 38th with a 263. Sophomore Nicci Schultz (Somonauk, Ill.) rounds out the Huskie top five and is in 39th with a 265.

"We showed improvement from the first two rounds and hopefully we'll get closer to what we're capable of tomorrow," Tyska said. "We'll just have to push the accelerator and make a kick to the finish."

Kent State is dominating the top five as Kira Meixner sits atop the leaderboard with a 218 (+2), followed by Tara Delaney's second-place mark of 220 (+4) and Maddi Swaney and Kirby Dreher's fifth-place total of 231 (+15). Eastern Michigan's Catherine Fortin is in third-place with a 227 (+11), while Western Michigan's Erin Thorne is currently fourth with a 229 (+13)

Kent State is in first place with an 898, followed by Eastern Michigan (938), Western Michigan (951), Toledo (972), Ohio (975), NIU (993), Ball State (1,000) and Bowling Green (1,006)

Final round action of the MAC Championship is slated to begin at 7 a.m. (CDT) on Sunday morning.

--NIU--